Legends Of The Heart
by Karania Avalon
Summary: Legends, just a myth or are they true? Karania is a perfect example, The Girl of Legend. Together with Ash, Misty, May, and Edgar they work together to keep the world from falling into darkness and to fulfill their destinys. No flames.
1. Prologue

Legends Of The Heart 

Prologue 

**Legends speak of a trainer, who will save the world from darkness and guide others along the path to greatness.  The Girl of Legend, Karania.  But Karania cannot do it all alone.  So another prophecy was created to assist her.  This prophecy in Hoenn speaks of 3 trainers having the ability to command and control Rayquaza, Kyogre, and Groudon.  With the help of these 3 trainers Karania will be able to fulfill her destiny, and restore peace and balance across the land.  Together these four are an unbeatable team.  And so, our story begins….**


	2. A Long Trip

Chapter 1 

**"Misty, how much longer will this boat ride take?"  Ash whined.**

**"Don't complain Ash, you're the one who wanted to go to Hoenn."**

**"Yeah, but I didn't expect it to take so long to get there."  Ash insisted.**

**"You know you're starting to get on my nerves."  Misty said sounding slightly annoyed.**

**"How much longer!"  Ash exclaimed.**

**"ASH!  IF YOU COMPLAIN ONE MORE TIME, I'LL MAKE THIS BOAT RIDE LAST A MILLENIA!"**

**Ash backed away from her, and shut his yap.  An hour passed without incident.  Ash was about to ask Misty how much longer the ride would take when an announcement came on over the speaker saying that they had now arrived in port at Littleroot.**

**"About time."  Ash said.**

**"I totally agree."  Misty said.**

**"Come on, let's get off this boat."  Said Ash.**

**So Misty and Ash walked out of their cabin and disembarked from the ship.  Once off the ship, they walked around taking in the sights.  After awhile, they saw Professor Birch's Laboratory.**

**"Hey, there's a lab."  Misty said.**

**"Why don't we go inside."  Ash suggested.**

**"Good idea."  Misty replied.**

**Then with that said, they both entered the lab and were slightly surprised at what they saw. **


	3. The Setting Off Of May and Edgar

One thing I need to say before we get started.  Thank you, Edgar for helping me write this story!  You're a great co-author.  Now here's the story 

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Chapter 2 

Once inside, Ash and Misty saw Professor Birch, his assistant, and two kids who were there to pick up their first pokemon.

**"Oh, hello."  Said Prof. Birch to Ash and Misty.**

**"Who might you two be?"  Prof. Birch asked.**

**"I'm Ash, and this is Misty."  Ash replied.**

**"Nice to meet you, I'm Prof. Birch, and this is May and Edgar."**

**"Nice to meet you."  May and Edgar both said.**

**"Ash, Prof. Oak mentioned to me the other day that you won the Silver Convention.  I think that's great.  I'd like to give you a pokemon, but first I'd like to let May and Edgar choose their first pokemon."**

**Prof. Birch turned back to May and Edgar and said, " The choices for your pokemon are Torchic, Mudkip, and Treeko.  May, which one will you choose?"**

**May stepped forward, and said, "I chooses, Torchic."**

**"Good choice."  Prof. Birch said as he handed May the poke ball that contained Torchic.**

**"Now Edgar, out of the remaining pokemon, which one do you choose?"**

**"I want Treeko."  Edgar replied.**

**Prof. Birch took Treeko's poke ball and handed it to Edgar.**

**"Now Ash, I want you have the remaining pokemon."  Prof. Birch said.**

**"Okay."  Ash replied.**

**Prof. Birch now handed Ash the poke ball containing Mudkip.**

**Now that everyone had a pokemon, it was time to leave.  They all thanked Prof. Birch, and left the lab.**

**Once outside, May and Edgar approached Ash and Misty and asked, "Ash, Misty, do you mind if we come with you on your journey?"**

**"I don't mind."  Misty said.**

**"What do you think Ash?"  Misty asked him.**

**"Sure, it's fine with me."  Ash replied.**

**"You mean it!"  May and Edgar exclaimed.**

**"Yes, I really mean it."  Ash said.**

**"Great."  May said.**

**"Let's get going."  Edgar said.**

**"The nearest town is Odale."  May said.**

**"We should head there."  Edgar put in.**

**"Good idea."  Ash said.**

**Now Ash, Misty, May, and Edgar walked out of Littleroot and off toward the town of Odale.  **


	4. Trouble's Brewing

Character Bios 

Name: Edgar Birch 

Age: 13

Hair: Spiky Blonde

Eyes: Blue

Appearance: Looks like Brenden in the game except for the white hair.

Red and black shirt, black pants, red and black headband on his head, and red and black tennis shoes.

Personality: Really kind and sweet, but when he meets a pretty girl he blushes a lot. (very shy, to talk to pretty girls). Likes to help people in trouble, and he cares deeply for his pokemon and friends.

Pokemon: Treeko nicknamed Leaf, Absol nicknamed Luna, Minun nicknamed Static, Wailmer nicknamed Nemo, Vulpix nicknamed Blaze, and Swellow nicknamed Ace.

Ash Ketchum

Do I really need to describe what he looks like?

Hair: black

Age: 14

Appearance: Blue vest, black shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes.

Personality: Stubborn and brash. Does things on the spur of the moment, which usually gets him in trouble or has a less than desired effect.

Pokemon: Pikachu, Bayleef, Charizard, Mudkip, and Noctowl.

May Clearwater

Looks just like the character in the game, with a couple of changes.

Hair: Brown

Age: 12

Appearance: Red shirt, short red skirt, red and white banana on her head

Eyes: Brown

Personality: Is fascinated by legends, and therefore looks up to Karania as her hero. She has a crush on Edgar, but she hides it because she too shy to let it show. She secretly dreams of being one of the best trainers the world has ever known.

Pokemon: Torchic nicknamed Vanessa, Skitty nicknamed Crystal, Poochyena nicknamed Duchess, Seal nicknamed Kiara, Electrike nicknamed Sakura, and Tropius nicknamed Kathleen.

Misty Waterflower

Age: 15

Hair: shimmery red

Appearance: wears a pale pink swimsuit with a blue jacket over it.

Personality: Adores Ash, but his attitude tends to drive on her nerves at times. She has a crush on Ash, but won't admit it because she's afraid of being turned down. Likes to help people or pokemon in need, and loves to travel and see new places.

Pokemon: Quagsire, Corsola, Starmie, and Seadra.

Karania Avalon

Age: 17

Hair: black

Eyes: Blue

Rank: Pokemon League World Champion, and also the Girl of Legend.

Appearance: Wears a midnight blue dress with a white cape with gold fastenings over it.

Personality: Very sweet and fun-loving, doesn't really care if she's liked or not, she just wants to be herself. She has psychic powers that enable her to predict the future, and therefore her battle style is widely unpredictable for her opponent. Always offers the hand of friendship to her opponent even if she wins or loses. Friends mean a lot to her. She isn't particularly fond of Team Aqua or Team Magma because they nearly got her barbequed when their experiment went haywire. All the same, she prefers Team Aqua to Team Magma. She spends her time along with her Champion duties to thwarting Team Magma's plans.

Pokemon: Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Mew, Celebi, and Articuno.

Trainers that will Make an appearance in later chapters. 

Mal 

Appearance: Bright red hair, grey eyes, wears a red tank top underneath a red cape, black cargo pants, black boots, and red gauntlets.

Personality: a Magma Admin who loves fire types, and is very cold hearted toward other people. She acts cool around weaker trainers, and ignores almost every adult.

Pokemon: Mightyena nicknamed Shadow, Crobat nicknamed Blade Bat, Quilava nicknamed Pyrospike, Charmeleon nicknamed Blaze, Camperupt nicknamed Firestorm, and Zangoose nicknamed Velvet.

~*~ Chapter 3 

While the gang was heading towards Odale Town, a crowd was gathering across the country in Staleport.  In Staleport, the crowd was gathering because Karania, the World Pokemon League Champion was going to make an appearance.

**"When will she appear?"  A small boy asked his mother.**

**"Hush, Sammy.  The World Champion has her reasons for making us wait to see her."  His mother replied.**

**Just at that moment, Maxie and his Team of Magma grunts were passing, and Maxie overheard them mention them mention that the World Pokemon League Champion was going to make an appearance.  He made his grunts walk to a fairly secluded spot, where they wouldn't be seen so that Maxie could formulate a plan.**

**Maxie thought for a few minutes, and then said, "Listen up!  The Pokemon League World Champion is going to make an appearance in town today, and I have a plan that concerns her."**

**"Her?"  A grunt asked.**

**"Yes, you nitwit!  The World Champion's a girl!"**

**The grunt backed away from Maxie.**

**Now a Magma Admin asked, "Boss, what is this plan that you have?"**

**Maxie's expression on his face softened a little, and he turned to face the Admin.**

**"That's a good question, Mal.  Since you asked, I will tell you."**

**Some of the grunts started messing around behind Maxie.**

**Maxie suddenly whirled around on the rest of the grunts and said, "Listen, all of you!  This plan is fool-proof.  For this plan to work, I'll need you to get the crowd to stay where they are, while I snatch the World Champion.  There are a couple variations of things that could happen.  The first thing that could happen is that it isn't really a girl who's the World Champion.  Then if that were to happen, we would need to proceed with extreme care.  Secondly, if the World Champion's a girl, as I suspect that she is.  Then when we make our appearance known to the crowd and tell the crowd not to move, the World Champion might try to stop us.  Should this happen, I want you to leave her to me.  With any luck, I'll be able to overpower the girl and take her captive."**

**"So the plan mainly consists of trying to kidnap the World Champion."  Another grunt named Thomas said.**

**"That's right.  I'm hoping that if we capture her, we can hold her for ransom.  For I'm sure her supporters will want to do anything in their power to help her."**

**"Great idea, Boss.  When will we put this plan into action?"  Mal asked.**

**"We will put this plan into action shortly after she is introduced to the crowd.  Now all we have to do is wait."  Maxie said with a sinister look on his face.**


	5. An Unfortunate Turn Of Events

Chapter 4 

Back stage in Staleport, Karania was waiting for her cue to go on.  About an hour had passed, and Karania was starting to get bored.  

"Who said that a Champion's job was easy?"  Karania muttered to herself as she waited.

Another 10 minutes passed.  Then finally Karania's manager showed up.

"There you are!  Are you ready?  There's a huge crowd, but that can be expected because of who you are."

"Of course I'm ready!"  Karania replied.

"This is what I live for."  She added.

"Good."  Her manager said.

"Come on then.  The crowd is starting to get restless."  Karania's manager told her.

They both walked to the curtain, and before her manager went out to introduce her he said, "Karania, after I announce you, I want to you to come out and join me on stage."

Karania nodded to let him know that she understood.

Now her manager went out onto the stage, got the crowd's attention and then said, "Thank you all for coming here today.  Without further delay, I would like to present to you Miss Karania Avalon, the current World Champion and the Girl of Legend."

Karania now stepped out onto the stage, and the crowd began cheering wildly.  From where Maxie was watching, Maxie was surprised at how young and pretty she was.  He signaled for his grunts to get ready to move out.  Meanwhile, Karania's manager handed her the microphone, and left the stage.

The first thing Karania said was, "Thank you all for coming.  It means a lot to me that you came here today."  

The crowd clapped and cheered.

Then she said, "It's been my lifelong dream to become the World Champion, and I'm pleased to say that my dream has come true."

More clapping and cheering.  While all this was going on, Maxie and his Team of Magma agents came out of where they were hiding, and moved in closer awaiting Maxie's signal.

Karania continued, "I must ask you something.  Do you think that it's easy being one of the World's top trainers?"

Mixed replied from the crowd were given.

"It's not easy being a top trainer."  Karania continued.

"But in truth it's very hard to be considered on of the best.  The fact mainly being………….."

**"Crash!"**

That was the signal.  A trash can was dropped from a roof top by Maxie.  Then he quickly got back on the ground by using his Golbat as a parachute.

"Who, what?  What's going on?!"  The crowd exclaimed.

"Let's get out of here."  One person yelled.

"Stay where you are."  The Magma agents said surrounding the ground and sounding meaner than ever.

Maxie now walked over to the agents and rejoined their group.  The crowd didn't know what to do.  Karania saw what was happening, and was determined to stop it.  Karania jumped off the stage, her white cape catching the wind behind her as she jumped.  Once on the ground, she made her way over to the Magma agents.  Maxie saw her coming, and got ready for what he was about to do.

"Stop this!"  Karania cried.

"Never."  Maxie said.

Maxie took several steps forward and grabbed Karania by her left wrist.  Karania struggled trying to free herself from him, but it just wasn't working.  Maxie was a lot stronger than Karania, so her feeble attempts to get away were useless.

"As you can see……"  Maxie said.

"……..I've got you.  MAL!  READY A TRANQUILIZER!"

"Yes, boss."  Mal replied.

Mal hurried off to do what he said.  Karania was now squirming worse than ever, trying to break Maxie's hold on her.

"I can't have you squirming like this."  Maxie said as he grabbed both of her arms and held them tightly behind her back to keep her from squirming.

Maxie was now holding Karania so tightly that she couldn't move.  Just now, Mal returned with the tranquilizer shot.  Mal readied the needle, and then stuck Karania in her left arm near her shoulder with it.  Karania screamed.  Maxie laughed, and Mal looked very pleased with herself.  Karania now went limp in Maxie's grasp.  He released her arms and scooped her up into his arms.  The last thing Karania saw before the tranquilizer took effect was Maxie's face.  Then Karania knew no more, for she had slipped into a deep sleep.  Now a grunt threw a smoke bomb to the ground, and the whole of Team Magma made their get-away with Karania as their prize.


	6. Karania's Disappearance

**Chapter 5**

"What just happened?"  A man asked.

"No idea."  Said the woman next to him.

"I thought I heard Karania scream."  Sammy's mother said.

"Mommy, Karania's not over there any more.  Do you think she's okay?"  Sammy asked his mother.

"I don't know, Sammy.  I hope so."

"Look!  Karania's not on the edge of the crowd or on the stage."  One woman said.

"I hate to say it……."  Said another man.

"………..But I think Karania was kidnapped."

"She has been kidnapped."  An older woman confirmed.

"I saw them grab her and take her away."  She said.

Karania's manager had come out on stage and had heard everything they had said.

"Where's Karania?"  He asked the crowd.

"We don't know."  One man replied.

"Team Magma showed up and Karania tried to stop them, and we think that they kidnapped her before our eyes."  Sammy's mother said.

"Oh, no……."  Karania's manager moaned.

"I was afraid that something like this would happen."  He added still very upset. 

Just then a pair of reporters named Gabby and Ty walked up to the stage and asked, "What's going on here?"

Karania's manager replied, "Karania was giving a public appearance, but Team Magma showed up according to the crowd and kidnapped her in the middle of it."

Ty was getting all of this on camera.

"So Team Magma's kidnapped Karania?"  Gabby asked.

"That's exactly what we think happened."  Karania's manager replied.

"Oh, dear.  That's not good."  Gabby said sounding worried.

"I need to contact the police about her kidnapping, but please feel free to talk to the crowd."  Karania's manager said before hurrying off backstage to call the police.

So the police were informed about Karania's kidnapping, and then the police contacted Team Aqua.  They contacted Team Aqua because they didn't like Team Magma, and because they always worked hard to thwart their plans.  Also they were contacted because the police felt that with many people looking for her, she would be found quickly.

"Let me get this straight."  Archie said while talking on the phone to the police.

"Karania the World Champion was just kidnapped by Team Magma?"  He asked Officer Jenny.

"That's right.  She was giving a public appearance in Staleport, when Team Magma showed up and kidnapped her."

"I'll get my Team to start looking for her immediately!"  Archie said.

"Good.  Thank you."  Officer Jenny said.

They exchanged good-byes, and Archie hung up the phone.  Once off the phone he rushed to tell his Team what had just happened.


	7. Welcome To The Group Tani and Sara!

These characters make an appearance in the next chapter. I hope you like them.  
  
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Name: Sara Giles  
  
Personality: Nice to people that she trusts, but hateful towards Team Magma for killing her parents in a fire  
  
Hair color: Brown, curly in a ponytail, well below the shoulders.  
  
Eye color: Hazel  
  
Clothing: Black jeans and light blue t-shirt with no markings on it. Red sneakers with black strips running down the sides.  
  
Age: 14  
  
Pokemon: Lapras (Mike), Charizard (Charmy), Roselia (Rose), Golem (Rocky), Raichu (Mousie), and Alakazam (Trancer).  
  
History: She grew up in Littleroot Town with a poor family. Her dad got fired the day that she was going to start her journey. She wandered to a nearby route to see a trainer abusing his Charmander, and she stepped forward, believing that it was cruel. After a fist fight, she not only got the Charmander, she also got a Lapras, the trainer claiming that both of them were "worthless". With a donation from Professor Birch, she started on her journey. A year later, with a Growlithe puppy that she got when she rescued the mother from Team Magma at her heels, she found her house burning to the ground, Team Magma fleeing the scene. Her parents were killed in the fire, and she's been out for revenge ever since.  
  
Name: Samantha McPhoenix (but she is under the alias Tani Tsuzurei in Hoenn, so no one can recognize her) Age: 15 Background info: Samantha McPhoenix (called Sam by her friends) is the Pokemon League Grand Master of the Indigo Plateau League. Because of her popularity, she's decided to go under the name "Tani Tsuzurei" to avoid being mobbed by fans, or worse, targeted by thieves. She was sent to Hoenn by Lance the Dragon Master of the Indigo Plateau Pokemon League to do undercover studies on Teams Aqua and Magma, but she's mostly just there to prove her skills as a great trainer. As her name suggests, she is more in tune to Fire-type Pokemon, particularily phoenixes like Ho-Oh, and though she seems like just an average kid, her fierce skills as a trainer are surprising. Personality: Kind, bubbly, honest, and gentle to her friends, but to people she doesn't like, she gets sarcastic, cold, and rather rude. Otherwise, she's a sensitive soul who cares for her friends and Pokemon dearly, and will put herself in the way of danger to protect them if she has to. She doesn't want to try getting involved in a mess with Team Magma or Aqua, so she'll only confront them if they're endangering innocent lives. She seems somewhat of a loner because it's hard to get people to understand her, and as a result, finds it hard to make friends. She wants people to like her for who she is, not for her status as a Pokemon Master. Hair: Dark brown layered to an inch past her shoulders Eyes: greenish-brown Appearance: khaki-colored flare jeans with a long leather belt tied around the hips, black boots, khaki-colored short-sleeved collared button blouse worn over a magenta-colored spaghetti-strap tank top. Pokemon: Blaziken named Pyro (male); Raichu named Kaminari (male); Altaria named Nimbus (female); Chimecho named Zephyr (male); Lanturn named Sushi (female); and a rarely-seen Ho-Oh named Rainbow (female). 

~*~

Chapter 6 

Meanwhile back in Odale, the gang was just now entering the town.  Unknown to them, they would soon be swept up into the midst of the chaos.  During the walk, May had caught herself a Poochyena (whom she named Duchess), and an Electrike (which she named Sakura).  May wasn't the only one who caught pokemon on the walk between towns.  Edgar had caught himself a Minun (whom he named Static), and a Taillow (which he named Ace).  May and Edgar were very pleased with their new catches.  The group decided that before they headed toward Petalburg, that they should go to the Pokemon Center and heal their pokemon before moving on.  When they came to the Pokemon Center, they went inside.  Once inside, the group saw a large group of trainers gathered around the T.V. set.

"What do you think happened?"  Ash asked Misty.

"No idea."  Misty replied.

May was just as puzzled as they were.  However, Edgar was determined to find out what had happened.

So Edgar walked over to two girls and asked, "Excuse me, ladies, but could you please tell me what's going on?"

The girls snickered slightly, as though they thought he would have already know.  But they answered him anyway.

Sara replied, "Karania, the World Champion was just kidnapped in Staleport by Team Magma."

"Oh, no!"  Edgar exclaimed.

"Yeah.  Exactly what they want Karania for is unclear."  Tani said slowly.

"By the way, I'm Sara and this is Tani."  Sara said.

"Nice to meet you."  Edgar said.

"Edgar, what's happened?"  May, Misty, and Ash all asked him.

Edgar replied, "Karania, the World Champion was kidnapped by Team Magma."

"What!?!  Oh, no!  Poor Karania!….."  They exclaimed.

"Yeah.  By the way, this is Sara and Tani.  They kindly told me what was going on."  Edgar said.

"Would everyone, please quiet down!"  Nurse Joy shrieked over the noise.

The crowd went quiet, so that everyone could hear the last few words of the news report.

"…..And so we come to the end of our report.  Though we ask that anyone who has seen Karania, or Team Magma lately should contact the police."  Then with that the report ended.

A couple of boys began talking loudly, "I can't believe that Karania was the one they went after!  I would of thought that they would have gone after someone with a little less fame." 

Tani shuddered.

"….Or, maybe they wanted her because of her fame."  Another boy added.

"True, but I was even more surprised to learn that Team Aqua's working with the police to try and find Karania.  That's just unreal!"  The first boy said.

"Come on, guys, we aren't gonna find any peace and quiet here."  Edgar said.

The group turned to leave.

Then Sara and Tani asked, "Hey guys.  Do you mind if we come with you on your quest?"

"Sure."  The gang answered.

"Great."  Tani said.

Now with two new group members, the gang left the Pokemon Center and continued on to Petalburg City.


	8. A Plan To Help

Chapter 7 

Meanwhile back at Aqua Headquarters, Archie was just now filling his Team in on what had happened to Karania.

"Now as I've already told you, the police have asked us specifically to help them find Karania.  This is our chance to prove ourselves useful, and not just as silly trouble makers.  Is that clear?"

The grunts and Admins all nodded, and replied, "Yes, boss."

"Good.  Now here's what we're gonna do.  We're gonna go to Staleport and search for clues as to where Team Magma may have taken Karania after they abducted her.  I know the police have already searched the area, but we might be able to find something of meaning to us.  Okay, everyone we're heading out for Staleport.  Let's go."

Then with that, Team Aqua and their leader headed off towards Staleport hoping to find clues that would lead them to Karania, and hopefully provide them with the information that they so desperately needed to perform a rescue operation for Karania.

  
  



	9. Poor Karania

Chapter 8 

Things weren't looking up for Karania either.  For as soon as the whole of Team Magma arrived at their base, Maxie took Karania's pokemon, cape, backpack, and then locked her in a fairly clean cell.  Considering her status as he was doing this, and not because she was a girl, and that he somehow felt concern toward her, because he didn't.  Before Maxie left her, he laid her down on the small bed in her cell and pulled a rather moth-eaten blanket over her to keep her warm.  He did this only because he knew that if he wanted to get the ransom money he was asking for from Karania's supporters, he also knew that he needed to care for her just enough that she stayed healthy.  Otherwise he thought that there was a fairly good chance of not getting the money he asked for her safe release.  Maxie also knew that to do this he would also need to make sure that Karania stayed well-nourished, and Maxie didn't care if he actually had to force soup down her throat to do that.  As long as he got the ransom money.  To Maxie, Karania was their ticket to a large fortune, and he wasn't about to let anyone spoil his plans.  Before Maxie left her after laying her on the bed and covering her with a blanket, he carefully checked her pulse.  Since he could tell exactly how much longer the tranquilizer was going to affect her.

"Let's see.  Her pulse is still very faint.  So that means that it will still be a while until she awakens."  Maxie thought.

On second observation, when Maxie checked her pulse again, he found that it would still be about 3 hours until Karania awoke from her sleep.  So he left her, and went back to his office to write the ransom letters.  In hopes that one of these letters would contribute to the large fortune that Maxie hope to obtain with Karania's unwilling assistance.  Karania however, knowing none of this, slept on.


	10. A Golbat, a Threat, and a Demand

Chapter 9 

By this time, Team Aqua had arrived in Staleport, and was searching the area where Karania had suddenly disappeared without a trace.  They had found nothing of value so far, and they were beginning to think of giving up their search in Staleport and looking somewhere else.  When a note fell from the sky to the ground.  The Aqua grunts looked up, and saw a Golbat flying out of view.

"No what is a Golbat doing out here?"  Archie asked the air.

Then one of the Admins answered, "I think Team Magma may have sent that Golbat to deposit the note it dropped."

"That's true, Shelly.  That's most likely what they did.  Now let's have a look at this note.

**The note read:**

If you ever want to see Karania alive again, meet us at the foot of the Jagged Pass in one week with one million dollars in ransom money.  If you fail to do this, then something terrible will befall Karania.

**Signed, Maxie of Team Magma.**

"I should have known that their plan was to kidnap Karania and hold her for ransom."  Archie said darkly.

"One week to get the ransom money together, and get to the Jagged Pass?  That's crazy!  How can anyone do that?!  It'll take at least a couple of weeks just to get there."  An Admin by the name of Matt said.

"That's true."  Archie said thoughtfully.

Shelly added, "From the sounds of it, Karania's in big time trouble."

"No kidding."  Matt agreed.

"The only thing we can do at this moment is to take this note to the police, and then head towards Petalburg.  Since that will be the quickest route, and we won't have to deal with a desert getting in our path."  Archie said.

"Too true."  Shelly said.

Now the members of Team Aqua went to turn the ransom note over to the authorities, and after they did that they headed towards Petalburg City on their water Pokemon.

Meanwhile, while Archie and the other Team Aqua members were searching for Karania, Karania was just now awakening from her sleep.  When her eyes came back into focus, she sat up and began to look around at her surroundings.  She found that she had been laying on a small bed in a fairly clean cell.  It immediately dawned on her soon afterward, that she must be in Team Magma's base as their prisoner.  Hoping beyond hope that her psychic powers were still intact, Karania mustered everything she had to send telepathic messages to her boyfriend, Lance, and to Latia and Latios.  Karania told them in her messages that Team Magma had captured her, and had taken her to their base.  She also told them, that she thought that she was near a volcano.  Since she smelled a lot of soot and ash.  After sending those desperate pleas of help, Karania laid back down on, pulled the blanket back over her, and tried to get some more sleep.  Since Karania had nothing better to do, in her captured state.  As Karania slowly drifted back off into sleep, her thoughts flew to the messages she had sent and whether or not they would aid the people looking for her in their quest to find her.  Then Karania fell back asleep, and she knew no more for a time.


	11. Fatherly Advice

Chapter 10 The gang was now on the road to Petalburg City.  On the way there, Edgar caught himself an Absol (whom he named Luna).  Then Much to May's surprise, she ran into a very rare Tropius (Whom she named Kathleen).  May was surprised, but she managed to capture it easily. Misty asked May, "So what's Petalburg like?" 

"It's a really nice City besides the fact that it's my hometown.  It is also close to the ocean, so we don't have to travel far to visit the beach each year."

"That must be nice, to live so close to the ocean."  Misty remarked.

"Yeah, it is.  Though it's a real pain during hurricane season.  During which we constantly have to be on our guard and be ready to evacuate at any given moment."  May said.

"Please tell us more about your hometown.  It has a gym, and the leader is my dad Norman."

"A gym!  Excellent!"  Ash exclaimed.

"Typical Ash."  Misty muttered to herself.

"Hey there's the entrance to the city."  Edgar said.

The gang now entered the city and began to look around.

"Let's heal our pokemon before we do anything else."  Edgar suggested.

"Yeah, we didn't get to heal our pokemon to heal our pokemon back in Odale Town because of all those trainers."  Ash said.

"We might as well heal our pokemon too."  May, Tani, and Sara all said.

So the gang walked to the Pokemon Center, and got their pokemon healed.  Then after their pokemon were healed and back in tip top shape, they all walked over to the gym, and went inside.  May went to find her dad.  She finally found her finishing up a battle with some kid.  May's dad defeated the boy easily, and the battle ended.

"Nice try, but you'll need to improve and train more if you ever want to beat me."  May's dad told the boy.

"Oh, okay……"  The boy replied.

Then the boy walked out of the gym still feeling pretty lousy about losing to the local gym leader.

Now May walked over to her father and said, "Hi, dad."

Her father looked up, and a smile crossed his face.

"May, it's so good to see you!  Which pokemon did you choose?"

"I chose Torchic."  She replied.

"That's a pretty good pokemon.  It will become a dual type when it evolves."  May's father told her.

'Wow, it does?"  May asked her father.

"It sure does.  Now May have you caught any new pokemon?"

"Yes, I did catch some new pokemon."  May replied.

"Really?  Which one's did you catch?"  Her dad asked.

"I caught a Poochyena, an Electrike, and a Tropius."  May replied.

"That's great news."  May's dad said.

Now May's dad walked over to a shelf near the arena and took a poke ball off of it.  Then he came back over to where May was.

"May, I caught you this pokemon a couple of weeks ago for you, but before then I thought I would wait until started your journey to give it to you."  May's dad told her.

Now her father handed her the poke ball.

"Go ahead, open it."  May's father said.

May threw the poke ball to the ground, and a Skitty appeared from it.

"Cool!"  May exclaimed.

"A Skitty.  I always wanted one!"  She added.

"I knew that you did, so that's why I caught it for you."  May's dad told her.

"May, are you in here?"  A voice called.  It sounded like it was Edgar's voice.

"Sounds like your friends are looking for you."  May's dad remarked.

Now May went to find her friends, and in a few minutes she returned with them.

"Dad, these are my friends.  Ash, Misty, Edgar, Sara, and Tani."  May said.

"Hello."  May's friends all said.

May's dad looked at her friends, and then when he saw Ash he paused and asked, "Ash, you competed in the Silver Convention and from what I heard from Prof. Birch."

"Yeah, I did."  Ash said, trying hard not to brag about his achievement.

"Hey Ash, do you feel up to a battle?"  May's dad asked him.

"I sure do."  Ash replied.

"Great!  Let me heal my pokemon, and then we'll get started."  Norman said.

Then with that, Norman left the gym to heal his pokemon from his most recent battle.


	12. Ash and the Balance Badge

Chapter 11 

About 5 minutes late, Norman returned from the Pokemon Center. 

Now that he was back he tuned to Ash and said, "Okay, I'm back.  Let's get this match on the road."

"Okay."  Ash said rather enthusiastically.

The referee got in place for this battle and then said, "Okay this battle is between the Petalburg City Gym Leader Norman, and the challenger,  Ash from Pallet Town.  Let the match begin!"

Now both trainers sent out their pokemon.

"Let's go, Slaking!"  Norman said.

"Okay then, Bayleef you're up."  Ash said.

Both poke balls burst open at about the same moment.

"This battle is between Slaking, and Bayleef, let the match commence!"  The referee said.

"Slaking, use Fury Swipes."

"Bayleef, use Double Team."  Ash countered.

"Now Bayleef use Razor Leaf, then Sunny Day."

"Slaking, Faint Attack now!"

Bayleef was hit, but it managed to recover and continue the fight, and therefore issued a flurry of sharp leaves that rushed at Slaking.  This attack took Slaking down to a mere sliver of its H.P.  Despite this fact, Norman didn't look too worried.  He was concerned of course, but he wasn't panicking either.

"Slaking, use Strength!"

Bayleef now performed its Sunny Day ability.

"Okay, Bayleef!  Let loose a Solar Beam!"  Ash commanded.

Bayleef's Solar Beam was a faster moving attack.  So it hit Slaking, and fainted it in one stroke.  Slaking never had the opportunity to perform its designated attack.

"Slaking, return!"  Norman said.

A beam of red light shot from the poke ball enveloping the pokemon and sucking it back into its poke ball.

"Okay, so Slaking fainted."  Norman thought.

"Then Vigorath, go!"  Norman yelled.

Vigorath came out of its poke ball, and face Bayleef.  Sunny Day was still in effect.

"Okay, this next round is between Vigorath and Bayleef.  Begin!"  The referee yelled.

"Vigorath, start off with a Faint Attack."

"Double Team, Bayleef."  Ash called to his pokemon.

"Now Bayleef, use Vine Whip.

"Vigorath, use Fury Swipes."  Norman called.

"Bayleef, use Solar Beam."  Ash called.

"Now use Façade."  Norman commanded.

"Use Solar Beam again, Bayleef."

Bayleef dodged the Facade, and let loose another solarbeam.  This one hit Vigorath and knocked it out cold.

"Vigorath, return."  Norman said.

"Okay then.  Slaking your up!"  Norman yelled.

Another Salking appeared from a poke ball, and it faced Bayleef.  Bayleef looked extremely worn out.

So Ash said, "Good job, Bayleef.  It's time for you to take a nice long rest."

Then Bayleef was enveloped by red light, and returned to its poke ball to rest.  

Now Ash looked down at Pikachu and said, "Pikachu, your up."

"Okay, this round is between Slaking and Pikachu.  Let the match begin!"  The referee yelled.

"Pikachu, use a Thunderbolt."

"Slaking, use Fury Swipes."  Norman called.

Ash's Pikachu dodged the Fury Swipes, and let loose a blinding Thunderbolt.  Slaking was brought down to about a half of its H.P., and it was paralyzed by the attack.

"Hate to break it to ya, Ash, but by paralyzing my pokemon you've just caused its Facade attack's power to double.  Slaking use Facade."

Facade hit Pikachu and sent Pikachu flying across the floor into a wall.  Pikachu got up, stood for a minute, and then fainted.

"Good try, Buddy.  You deserve a good rest."  Ash told Pikachu.

Ash leaned Pikachu up against his backpack and then turned back to the battle.

Ash thought for a moment, "Hmmm….  If I wanna win this I'm gonna need a stronger pokemon.  But since Slaking's paralyzed, its attack power of that move is doubled.  So my best bet is to go with a high level Pokemon."

"Charizard, your up!"  Ash yelled.

With a mighty roar, Charizard emerged from its poke ball.

"Oh, great..…" Norman thought.

"I didn't know that he had a Charizard."  He thought to himself.

"Okay, so this match is between Slaking and Charizard.  Let this battle begin!"  The referee yelled.

Slaking and Charizard both stared at each other like they were having a staring contest or something.

"Charizard, start things off with your Flamethrower."  Ash commanded.

"Slaking, use Strength."  Norman called.

Charizard's Flamethrower hit first, leaving Slaking with only a mere sliver of its H.P.  Now Slaking's Strength attack hit, but it didn't do much damage.

"Okay, Charizard let's finish this with a Seismic Toss!"

Charizard swooped in, grabbed Slaking, took it up in the air, and then slammed it hard into the ground.  Slaking got up, stood for a couple of seconds, and then promptly fainted.  Meaning that Ash had finally earned his first Hoenn League badge.  

"Slaking, return."  Norman said calmly.

He now walked over to Ash and said, "That was a great battle!  I see now how it was that you did so well in the Silver Convention."  Norman said.

"Thanks."  Ash said.

"Now as proof of your victory, here's the Balance Badge.  You've certainly earned it."  Norman said.

"Thanks, Norman."  Ash said.

Now Ash's friends rushed over.

"Way to go, Ash!"  Misty shrieked in pleasure.

"That was an awesome battle."  Sara said.

"It sure was."  Tani agreed.

"Come on, guys we should probably get moving after Ash heals his Pokemon again."  Edgar said.  

"It was nice seeing you again, dad."  May said.

"I'll expect that I'll see you and Edgar soon after you've trained some, and gotten a few other badges."  Norman said.

"I suppose, you will."  May said.

"Take care, Sweetie, and be careful."  Her dad said.

"Don't worry dad, I will."  May said.

Then with that the gang left the Gym.


	13. A Message From Karania

Chapter 12 

After leaving the Gym, the gang's first stop was the Pokemon Center.  There they all went inside, and while they were waiting for Ash's pokemon to be healed Nurse Joy approached Edgar.

"Do you mind if I could ask a favor of you?  She asked him.

"Not at all."  Edgar replied.

"Great.  Well you see, I was wondering if you would mind taking this bag of medicine to Pacidlog Town for me.  It's for a pokemon that is critically ill.  If it doesn't get this medicine soon, it will die."  Nurse Joy asked Edgar.

"Sure, I'll take it there.  I don't mind."  Edgar said.

"Great."  Nurse Joy said, and she handed Edgar the bag of medicine.

It wasn't too much longer until Ash's pokemon were fully healed, and then the gang got back on the road.  The gang entered Route 104, and began walking towards the beach.  It only took about 5 minutes to reach the beach, and when they got there, Misty ran forward being extremely happy all of a sudden.

"Alright!  This is what I'm talking about!"  Misty exclaimed while gazing longingly at the sea.

"Would someone clue me in as what's going on here?"  Edgar asked.

"Don't look at me."  May said.

"I have no idea."  Tani said.

"I'm just as clueless to this as you are."  Sara said.

So it was up to Ash to explain Misty's strange behavior.

"Well you see guys, Misty is a water pokemon trainer.  So she loves the sea."  Ash told them simply.

"Oh, I see."  Tani said.

"Yeah, that does kinda make sense."  Sara said.

"Hey guys is it just me, or am I suddenly seeing 2 large shadows under the water?"  Edgar asked the gang.

"It's not just you, I'm seeing them too."  May said.

"Great.  So I'm not going crazy after-all."  Edgar said.  

'Uh guys, those shadows are getting closer!"  Tani said with a note of panic in her voice.

Just then, two large creatures emerged from the depths of the sea, and turned to face the gang.

"Oh, my gosh!  It's Latias and Latios."  Sara said.

"What are they doing here?"  May asked.

"To deliver a message."  Latios said telepathically.

"A message?"  Asked Ash uncertainly.  
  


"Yes, a message." Latias said telepathically.

Then she said, "We bring a message from Karania."

Up in the bushes behind the gang, Mal was hiding.  Spying on the gang and trying to find out as much as she could about them now that she had seen that Latias and Latios had appeared to them.

"From Karania?  But isn't that the girl who was kidnapped?"  Edgar asked.

"That's right.  She was kidnapped."  Latios said.

Then he said, "Well anyway, Karania's message is this.  She said that she had been kidnapped by Team Magma, and had been taken to their base.  Karania also said that she thought that she was near a volcano.  She thought this because she smelled a lot of soot and ash from around the area where she was being held.

"That's awful."  Misty said. 

"Poor, Karania."  Tania said.

From behind them Mal thought, "Oh, Karania is gonna be so dead when I tell the boss this."

It was at this moment that Team Aqua surfed into view on their water pokemon.  As they neared shore, they were surprised to see a group of 6 trainers all standing on the beach talking to Latias and Latios.

"We must go now."  Latios said

"But bear in mind what we have said, and take the proper precautions."  Latias said.

Then with that, Latias and Latios slipped back under the water, and quickly disappeared from view.

"What do you think Latias meant by 'the proper precautions'?"  May asked.

"No idea."  Edgar replied.

The group still hadn't noticed that Team Aqua had arrived.  When Archie reached shore, he recalled his pokemon, and then went over to talk to the kids.


	14. Edgar and the Crazy Wailmer

Chapter 13 

About 5 minutes had passed since Latia and Latios had left the gang.  Archie and the rest of Team Aqua now approached the kids.

Once in hearing range Archie asked, "Excuse me, when we arrived I couldn't help overhearing what you said about Karania."

The gang jumped slightly, but they relaxed when they saw that Archie was the leader of Team Aqua.

"You did?"  Misty asked.

"Yes I did, but I was wondering where you got that information."  Archie asked.

"Latia and Latios told us."  May replied.

"Ah!  So that's it.  What did they say?"  Archie said.

"They mentioned that they had a direct message from Karania."  Sara said.  

"They also said, that Karania seemed to think that she was being held somewhere near a volcano."  Tani added quickly.

"Oh, so in that case I assume that Karania must be psychic."  Archie said.

Behind them Mal was carefully taking notes of everything that was said.  So that she could use it against Karania later.

Now Archie thought for a minute, trying to get all the new information to make some sort of sense in his mind before he said, "So what we do know now, is that Karania was kidnapped and is being held somewhere near a volcano.  Well there's only one volcano in Hoenn.  So that has to be Mt. Chimney.  Therefore she's being held somewhere near Mt. Chimney."

Behind them Mal was furiously taking notes.  Now a wild Wailmer appeared.  It faced Edgar, like it was challenging him.  The Aqua agents had never seen a Wailmer act this way so they watched this with great interest.

"Luna, let's go."  Edgar said.

Luna the Absol emerged from her poke ball.

"Whoa…….  An Absol."  An Aqua Grunt said.

"Sh…….."  Said another Grunt.

They now turned back to watch.

"Luna, use Faint Attack."  Edgar called.

Luna charged at the Wailmer and inflicted a mediocre amount of damage.  Wailmer retaliated with a Hydro Pump, which knocked Luna out.

"Oh, no!  Luna return!"  Edgar said.  

"Okay, Ace you're up."  

Now Edgar's Taillow emerged from its poke ball.

"Ace, use Wing Attack."  Edgar said.

The Wing Attack did a bit more damage than Luna's Faint Attack, but it still didn't do much.  Now, as before Wailmer used Hydro Pump and fainted Taillow.  

"Not again."  Edgar said recalling his pokemon.  

Now Edgar sent out Static the Minun.

"Okay, Static it's your turn now."  Edgar said.

Edgar was starting to get worried, because he only had two pokemon left while the Wailmer still seemed to be raring to go.

"Static, use Thunderbolt."  Edgar said.

Now as usual, the Wailmer retaliated with Hydro Pump and knocked Static out.

"Is it just me, or is this thing like using my pokemon for target practice?"  Edgar asked no one in particular.

"It certainly does seem that way."  A grunt replied.

"Okay, go Leaf.  You're my last hope buddy."  Edgar said.

Leaf the Treeko emerged from its poke ball and faced the Wailmer.

"Leaf, use your Razor Leaf."  Edgar commanded.

Razor leaf flurries rushed at the Wailmer, bringing it down to about a half of its H.P.

"Way to go, Leaf!"  Edgar said.

Now Wailmer retaliated with an Ice Beam, which froze Treeko into a solid block of ice.

"Oh, man……  Treeko, return.  Dang it, that thing's too strong….."

Archie now stepped forward and said, "Maybe I can even the score for you."

Edgar moved out of the way, and Archie took his spot.

"Sharpedo, come on out."  Archie said.

Sharpedo emerged from its poke ball and faced the Wailmer.

"Sharpedo, use Crunch."  Archie said calmly.

Sharpedo bit Wailmer hard, and brought it down to a mere sliver of its H.P.

"Okay, now catch it."  Archie told Edgar.

"Huh?  But you weakened it more than my pokemon did."  Edgar said confused.

"That's true, but you should have it.  I have plenty of water pokemon, and I don't need another one."  Archie said.

Then with that said, Edgar stepped forward and captured it.

Once Wailmer was captured and named Nemo, Edgar said, "I'm gonna have to go heal my pokemon again.  That Wailmer kinda threw my pokemon for a loop."

"Okay."  Misty said.

"Hurry back."  May said.

Now Edgar ran back into Petalburg City to the Pokemon Center.

Once Edgar was gone, Misty turned to Archie and asked, "From what you told Edgar earlier, I assume that you like water pokemon.  Is that right?"

Archie turned to face her and said, "Like them?  I love them!"  Archie replied.

Now Archie asked her, "Why did you want to know?"

Misty replied, "Well my family runs the Cerulean City Gym in Kanto, and our specialty is water."

"Oh, so in that case, I assume that you must be a water trainer too."  Archie said.

Now Archie asked her, "Can I ask what your name is?"

"My name is Misty."  She replied.

"Misty, huh?  Pretty name.  It perfectly reflects the element you train."  Archie said.

"Thanks."  Misty said.

Now Archie said, "I wonder how long Edgar will be until he comes back."

"No idea."  Ash said.

Now the gang and the whole of Team Aqua stood on the beach waiting for Edgar to come back from the Pokemon Center with his healed pokemon. 


	15. Of Spies and Legends

Chapter 14 

It didn't take Edgar long to get his pokemon healed because there weren't a lot of trainers in the Center.  After getting his pokemon healed, Edgar headed back to the beach to rejoin his friends.  somehow without him noticing until it was too later, he ran into Mal.

"Watch it, you little punk."  Mal said clearly annoyed.

"Sorry, I'll just go then."  Edgar said backing away slowly.

"Go?  I don't think so.  Not without a battle you won't."  Mal said.

Edgar sighed, "Okay fine.  If that's what you want, then so be it."  Edgar said.

"You won't win."  Mal said smugly.

"I've been training a lot longer than you.  I could whip your butt any day I wanted.  Come on, the battle starts now.  Pyrospike, you're up!"  Mal said.

"Okay, then Nemo you're up."  Edgar said.

On Edgar's side of the field was his Wailmer, Nemo.  Then on Mal's side of the field was her Quilava, Pyrospike.

"Ha!  What a pathetic pokemon!  It couldn't hit the broad side of a barn."  Mal cackled.

"Grrr….  We'll show you….  Right Nemo?"

Nemo nodded the affirmative.

Now the battle got started.

"Pyrospike, use Flame Wheel."  

"Dodge it, and use Hydro Pump."

Nemo dodged the Flame Wheel, and then let loose a fierce barrage of water.  The Hydro Pump hit Pyrospike, and knocked it out in one stroke.

"Argh!  I can't believe I lost to some little brat!  I'll get you back for this!  You haven't seen the last of me!"  

Then with that, Mal ran off into a secluded part of the Petalburg Woods.  Once there, she began plotting how to get back at Edgar.

"Great job, Nemo.  We sure showed her."  Edgar said recalling his pokemon. 

Now Edgar made his way back to the beach.  Once there he saw that Kyogre had appeared to May, and that May looked totally stunned, hardly daring to believe that it was true.  An Aqua Admin by the name of Mark had to push her forward to make her go talk to it.  Edgar now ran over to the gathered group so that he could watch the events happening before them more closely.  It wasn't too long after May was done talking to Kyogre, that Kyogre decided that it liked May and wanted to go with her.  So it allowed May to capture it.

"I think an old prophecy is coming to life here."  Archie said.

"What does it say?"  Edgar asked.

"It mentions 3 trainers who have control over Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza.  It also says that these trainers assist the Mistress of Legends to perform her duties, and to keep the world from falling into darkness."  Archie told him.

"That's one intense prophecy."  Tani said.

"No kidding."  Sara said.

Archie now asked the rest of the gang what their names were, and they told him.  Meanwhile back in the forest, Mal was putting together a poisoned dart.

As she was putting together the dart she thought, "That kid will pay for what he did to me and my pokemon."

The dart was now fully assembled.  So Mal took the dart, and cautiously walked out of the woods.  Once out in the open she hid behind a large bush, so that she could do what she was about to do.  Through the bush, Mal could see Edgar.  So she took aim, and throws the dart at him.  However, an Aqua Admin by the name of Shelly saw it coming, and commanded one of her pokemon to use a strong Water Gun on it.  The Water Gun connected with the dart, and knocked it out of the air rendering it harmless.  Mal was steamed that the dart didn't hit Edgar.  

Shelly told her boss, "Archie, a dart just came flying from behind a bush just a second ago."

Then Shelly pointed toward the bush where Mal was hiding.  Mal realized what was happening, and jumped up and ran back into the woods with Archie hot on her heels.  Mal called out her Quilava and healed it before walking back out of the shaded cover of the woods to the sunny patch.  There Archie was waiting for her.

"I knew you'd have to come back out sooner or later."  Archie said.

"And why's that?"  Mal asked sounding very ticked off.

"Because it's a dead end path, that's why!"  Archie told her.

"Now why did you throw that dart at Edgar?"  He asked.

"None of your business!"  Mal snapped.

"I'll make it my business if you're trying to hurt innocent kids."  Archie said.

Now Archie said, "I'm afraid your crime days are over.  I'm turning you in."

"Not without a fight you won't.  Pyrospike to the front."  Mal said defiantly.

"Oh, so that's how you want it.  Then Crawdaunt, you're up."

Crawdaunt emerged from its poke ball, and faced Pyrospike.

"Pyrospike, start off with Flame Wheel."  

The Flame Wheel hit, and did virtually nothing to Archie's pokemon.

"Crawdaunt, use Surf."  Archie commanded.

Surf hit Pyrospike, and knocked it out cold.

"Pyrospike return."  Mal said stiffly.

"Give it up, I beat you, and I'm turning you in now."  Archie said glaring at Mal.

"No you're not!"  Mal said coldly.

Mal called out her Charizard, Blaze, and climbed onto its back.

"Blaze, fly into the sky."  Mal said.

Blaze did what Mal commanded, and now Mal and her Charizard began flying out of view back to their base.  Archie chased after her for a while on the ground, but eventually gave it up.  Then he walked back to the beach.  Back on the beach, the group was waiting to hear what had happened.

"Did you catch her?"  Shelly asked.

"I found her, but I couldn't catch her.  She got away."  Archie said.

"Oh, no."  Matt said.

"Yeah."  Archie said.

"Do you think she overheard what we were talking about?"  Shelly asked.

"I'm afraid so."  Archie said.

"Oh, no."  Matt said again.

"Yeah, if she overheard that Karania somehow managed to get in touch with Latia and Latios, then Karania could be in deep trouble."  Mark said.

"There's nothing more we can do for her right now."  Archie said.

"Let's hope that she'll be alright."  Shelly said.

"We better get moving, we need to find Karania as soon as we can."  Archie said.

Then he turned around and asked, "By the way, do any of you mind helping us find Karania?  We could use all the help we can get to locate her."  Archie asked them.

"Sure."  The gang all replied.

"Well, let's go."  Archie said.

"Hang on.  I was asked to deliver some medicine to Pacifidlog Town by Nurse Joy, and I would hate to accidentally lose it."  Edgar said.

"Did she say how urgent it was?"  Archie asked.

"She said that it was very urgent.  She also said that the pokemon that needs this medicine is on the verge of dying."  Edgar said.

"Then that must come first."  Archie said.

Now Edgar comments, "I really don't know how I got myself agreeing to take a bag of medicine to Pacidlog Town.  I don't even know where that is!"

Now Archie said, "That's not a problem.  I'll have one of my Admins take you there."

"You will?"  Edgar asked hardly daring to believe his ears.

Now Matt steps forward and says, "Boss, if you'd like I'll be glad to take him there."

"Good.  That would be great."  Archie said.

Now Matt called out his Pelipper, and together Edgar and Matt flew to Pacifidlog Town.  Matt landed in front of the Pokemon Center, and let Edgar run inside to deliver the medicine.  Once inside the Center, Edgar ran over to the nurse.

"Nurse Joy, the nurse in Petalburg City asked me to bring some medicine to you."  Edgar said.  

Now he pulled the medicine out of his bag, and handed it to Nurse Joy.

"Oh, thank you!  Now this sick pokemon will survive.  Thank you ever so much."

Now Nurse Joy walked over to another boy, "Thomas, the medicine just arrived for your pokemon."  Nurse Joy told him.

"Really?!  Will my pokemon make it now?"  Thomas said in a concerned, excited tone.

"It probably will now."  Nurse Joy replied.

"Good."  The boy answered swiftly.

Now Edgar turned to leave.  As he was passing a large group of trainers, who were huddled in a corner talking, he overheard a few lines of their conversation.

"…….I know, I heard from a friend this morning that a large sky pokemon settled itself on the top of the Sky Pillar."  One boy said.

"Where is the Sky Pillar?"  A young girl asked him.

"The Sky Pillar is a short surf east of this town."  He replied. 

That was all Edgar heard of their conversation, but he had caught enough to get a good mental picture of what had happened.  Edgar left the Pokemon Center, and met back up with Matt.

Once he met back up with him he said, "I heard rumors that a sky pokemon settled itself atop the Sky Pillar."

"Then we should check that out while we're here."  Matt said.

Now Matt and Edgar and Edgar walked to the easternmost edge of the town, and once there Matt called out his Azumarill and Edgar sent out his Wailmer.  Then Matt and Edgar surfed eastward towards the Sky Pillar, and when they reached it they went ashore and recalled their pokemon.  Then they walked inside and made their way to the very top level of the Sky Pillar.

"I don't know about this."  Edgar said.

"Why's that?"  Matt asked him.

"Because I hate heights, that's why."  Edgar replied.

"Just don't look down, and you'll be fine."  Matt said

They then kept walking until they came to find a large pokemon coiled up, as though it was waiting for them.

"Go on, I'll wait here."  Matt said.

"Why?"  Edgar asked.

"Because I think that it wants to see you alone is why."  Matt replied.

Now Edgar walked closer to Rayquaza, and began to talk to it.  After about 5 minutes something happened that made Edgar jump in surprise.  What happened is that Rayquaza told him that it wanted to come along with him.  So Edgar captured it, and then walked back to rejoin Matt.

"So how did it go?"  Matt asked.

"It went great!  Rayquaza decided that it wanted to come with me."  Edgar said.

Now Matt said, "We should head back to the beach near Petalburg to rejoin the others."

"Okay."  Edgar replied.

"The fastest way would be to fly, like we did to get to Pacifidlog."  Matt said.

"Okay."  Edgar said again.

Now Matt called out his Pelipper and Edgar called out Rayquaza, and then they began to fly back to the beach.  About an hour later, they landed on the beach.

"Good, you're back.  Now we can get moving to try and find Karania before her time runs out."  Archie said.

Now everyone ran into the Petalburg Woods toward Rustboro City.


	16. Karania's Decision

Chapter 15 

When Mal arrived back at base, the first thing she did was to find the boss.  

Then when she found him she said, "Dad, I've got news for you."

"Okay, what is it?"  Maxie asked his daughter.

"The news is this.  Karania somehow managed to get in touch with Latia and Latios, and gave them a message regarding where she was and all that had happened to her."  Mal told him.

"SHE WHAT?!  Oh, I'm so gonna get Karania for that!  Now if she managed to do that, I assume that she must be psychic.  Thanks for telling me, Mal.  Now I'm gonna go run a test on Karania to determine whether or not she's psychic."  Maxie said.

"Okay.  See you later, dad." Mal said.

Now Mal left the room, and Maxie went to get the supplies he needed to perform the test on Karania.  He obtained a length of rope, and a machine that had wires that when attached to a person could detect psychic rays.  He also filled 3 shots with different fluids.  The first one would disable psychic powers, the second would sap her energy, and the last one would put her back to sleep.  Now Maxie took all the supplies, and went down to Karania's cell.  Once there, he unlocked the door and went inside.  The first thing Maxie did upon entering her cell was to set his supplies on the table in her cell.  Then Maxie roughly shook Karania awake.  Once she was awake Maxie tied her tightly to the bed.  So that she wouldn't move while he was performing the test on her.  The whole time Karania was struggling, trying to break free, but the ropes made that attempt of hers useless.  Karania was starting to get really scared.  Since she had no idea what he was gonna do to her, or what she had done to deserve this treatment.  Karania continued to struggle against her bonds.

Then Maxie told her, "I know you managed to get in touch with Latia and Latios, and therefore this is your punishment for contacting them.  You deserve every moment of it.  Oh, how I'm gonna enjoy doing this to you!"

Karania was terrified, since she had no idea that her enemies would find out about the messages she had sent.

"I'm so annoyed at you!"  Maxie told her; enjoying watching her struggle to get free, but to no avail.

"I came down here to run a test on you."  Maxie told her, enjoying watching her frightened expressions.

Then Maxie told her, "You have two choices.  To let me perform the test on you, or to allow me to harm your pokemon."

Karania didn't know what to say, she was at a complete loss for words.

Now Maxie asked her, "So, what will it be?  The test, or to allow me to harm your pokemon?"

Karania hesitated, as she didn't want to do either one.  But she knew that she had to pick one.  Karania felt like she didn't have much choice in this matter, since she didn't want her pokemon to be hurt.

"Well?  What will it be?"  Maxie asked her again.

"The test."  Karania replied; practically in a whisper, but Maxie heard it.

"The test, you say.  Huh?  So be it."  Maxie said.

Now Maxie attached some wires to her forehead, and then began scanning her with the machine.

While Maxie was running the test on her, he told her "Had you not interfered with my plans, then this wouldn't have been necessary."

Karania became even more frightened, as Maxie was running the test on her.  The test results showed that Karania had psychic powers.  After Maxie had performed the test on Karania, she became very tuckered out.  Since Maxie had been probing her mind during the test.  Though Maxie wouldn't let her rest yet, because he wanted to take advantage of her in her state of weakness by injecting her with some drugs that would immobilize her.  Maxie took the shots off the table and set 2 of them on the bed beside her.  Then Maxie took her left arm, and stuck her with the shot that would temporarily disable her psychic powers.  After that, he took the second shot off the bed, and placed the used shot in its place.  As before Maxie stuck her in the arm with the shot that would start to sap her energy.

Then Maxie says, "I think it best that you continue to sleep.  You can't get yourself in any trouble that way."

Now Maxie set the used shot down, and took the third and final shot. 

He then said, "I'm not through with you yet.  I still have something planned for you later, but for now it's time for you to sleep."

Maxie now stuck her with the shot that would put her back to sleep.  Before she slipped into a deep sleep, she felt Maxie removing the wires from her forehead and untying her.  Karania didn't know what happened next, for she had slipped back into a very deep sleep.  Maxie watched her sleep for a bit, and it seemed to him that the drugs he had just injected her with were starting to take effect.

"Serves you right for messing with my plan."  Maxie thought.

He now gathered all his supplies, and left her cell.  Locking the door behind him as he went.


	17. The Rampaging Beast

Chapter 16 

It didn't take the group long to make it through the woods.  Once out of the woods, they entered Rustboro City.  The gang saw the gym as they passed by it, but they knew that they'd have to come back to it later.  Since they all knew that Karania's safety came first.  So they ran through the city and into route 115.  Once in the area, they saw that the road was too rocky to continue walking on, so they had to take an alternate route by finding a smoother path.  They found a smoother path, but it took them 3 days to do so.  This new path was smooth enough to take them to where they wanted to go, the Meteor Falls Cavern.  

"Are you sure this is the right path?"  Shelly asked her boss.

"Positive."  Archie replied.

So they climbed the steps that led up into the cave.  Once in the cave they heard shouting, and as they got closer they saw Mal running around trying to get away from Groudon since it was trying to kill her.  The Aqua agents found this pretty funny, so they couldn't help laughing at Mal's misfortune.  Mal finally managed to escape from Groudon, and ran out of the cave through the opposite entrance that led to route 114.  Groudon continued to rampage.  Ash, now stepped forward.  Since he was trying to get a better look at Groudon.  When Groudon saw him.  Ash gulped as Groudon turned and came in his direction.

"Oh, boy….  What have I done now?"  Ash thought as the pokemon neared him.

The pokemon stopped about 4 feet away from Ash, and began to talk to him.  About 5 minutes passed, before Groudon finally calmed down enough to talk to Ash.  Then when it did, it totally surprised Ash, because it told him that it wanted to come along with him.  So Ash threw a poke ball, and caught Groudon.  Then the group exited the cave through the same exit Mal had used when she had fled from Groudon.  They exited the cave, and it took them two days just to get down the mountain from where the cave was located.  They made it to Fallarbor Town on the 6th day, and they knew that they only had one more day after this to find Karania before Team Magma hurt her.

However back at Magma base, Maxie had other plans.  He was still very angry at Karania for what she had done, that he began to starve her to death as soon as he had put her to sleep for the second time.  Karania was becoming weak fairly quickly, and she was starving.  Maxie's plan was to starve her almost to death, but to keep her alive just enough so that he could still get the ransom money he had asked for.  Karania didn't know how much longer she could hold on.  So she hoped and prayed that she would be rescued before she died at Maxie's hands.

From Fallarbor Town, it took the group 2 days to reach route 111.  They knew that Karania was in grave danger now.  Then after walking a little bit further they came to the Fiery Path, and they went inside the cave.  They walked inside the cave until they found a fork in the path that led off to the left.  When this happened, they took the left fork and continued walking until they seemingly reached a dead end.  Now the group wasn't sure what to do, so they split up and began feeling the walls of the cave, searching for a secret entrance.  Archie was running his hand over a small rock, when the rock moved, and a hidden panel slid open.  Everyone just looked at each other.  They had found the entrance to Team Magma's base.  Now all that was left to do, was to find Karania.


	18. Karania's Rescue

Chapter 17 

They walked into the base, and split up.  The grunts and Admins went one way, while Archie and the kids went another.  Now the search for Karania was on.  They knew that she was in the base somewhere because in one of the rooms, Archie found Karania's stolen belongings.  Archie decided to take them with him, and he slid all of them into his backpack to give back to Karania later when he found her.  "Come on."  Archie whispered to the kids.  So they kept moving through the halls of the base.

Meanwhile, Mal and Maxie were with Karania, torturing her.  What they were doing was injecting her with some drugs that would make it so that she couldn't use her powers, or to escape.  While they were doing this to her, Karania was laying on her back, too weak to even struggle against them.  Mal brought Maxie 3 shots that were filled with the same fluids.  That Maxie had used on her after he had run the test on her, and laid them on the table in her cell.  Maxie took the shot with the serum that would disable her psychic powers, took her left arm and gave her arm to Mal to hold still, and then stuck her with the first shot.  Karania screamed, and Mal and Maxie only laughed at her.

Back in the hallways of the base, Archie and the kids were searching for Karania, but they still hadn't found any leads yet.  Though that changed dramatically when they heard Karania scream.

"Come on!"  Archie exclaimed.

Now Archie and the kids ran off in the direction from which Karania's scream had come from.

Back in her cell, Maxie had set the first shot back on the table, and had picked up the shot that would sap her energy.  Karania struggled weakly to get her arm out of Mal's grasp, but to no avail.  Mal only tightened her grip on Karania's arm.  Now Maxie took the shot, got the needle ready, and stuck Karania in the arm with it.  As before Karania screamed, and Maxie and Mal laughed at her.

Archie heard Karania scream again, and the kids dashed after him down another hallway.  They stopped outside an open door, and Archie peered inside.  When he did so, he saw Mal and Maxie standing over a little girl, who from the looks of it appeared to be very sick.  Archie saw Maxie set a shot on the table, and pick up the final shot that would put Karania to sleep.  He knew that he had to act fast.  So he signaled to the kids to knock over a large potted plant that was in the hall.  The kids didn't know what Archie had in mind, but they knocked the plant over anyway.  The plant hit the ground with a thud, and as it turned out it was enough to save Karania from being hurt again.  Since Maxie set the shot back on the table.  Archie quickly ducked around a corner, and peered around it so that he would know when to make his move.  Maxie and Mal left Karania's cell to investigate the source of the noise.  Once they were gone, Archie dashed around the corner and into Karania's cell.  (Mal and Maxie left her cell unlocked when they had left her in a hurry)  Archie ran to Karania, and stood beside her bed looking down at her.  Karania seemed surprised.

Now Archie asked, "You are Karania, right?"

"I am."  Karania weakly replied.

"Oh, my!  What did they do to you!?"  Archie asked her, looking horrified since she appeared so weak and frail from the Karania, who had helped him out of a tough spot before.

"They injected me with some drugs that temporarily disabled my psychic powers. And they used another to sap my energy."  Karania replied weakly.

"You poor thing!"  Archie exclaimed.

Archie now saw the shot that held the sleeping serum on the table.  So he picks it up and asks her, "What is this shot for?" 

Karania replied, "They told me that that one would put me to sleep.  Before the distraction they were about to inject me with that one too."

Archie looked horrified.

So he said, "Karania, I'm here to rescue you.  As I promised I would years ago, that I would should you ever get captured."

Karania smiled faintly, but she still seemed very worn out.

Now Archie asked her, "Karania if I were to gently inject you with the sleeping shot, would you let me?"

Karania replied, "I would let you."

Now Archie carefully took Karania's left arm, and gently stuck her in the arm with it.  

Before Karania slipped into a deep sleep, Archie told her, "Karania, "Everything's gonna be okay."

In which case Karania smiled faintly, and the tranquilizer took effect and she slipped into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile while Archie was saving Karania, Mal and Maxie found the kids and had blocked their escape.

"Well it looks like some little pests found their way into our base."  Maxie said.

The kids didn't know what to do.

"Dad, can I battle one of them?"  Mal asked her dad.

"Of course you can, Mal."  Her father replied.

"Okay, thanks dad."  Mal said.

"Daddy's girl."  Edgar muttered.

Mal whirled around to face him, "What did you say!?  I choose to battle you, for my honor!"

"Fine."  Edgar said.

Mal took one end of the hall, and Edgar faced her.  The rest of the kids were behind Edgar, not able to get away either because Maxie was blocking their escape.

"This will be a 3 on 3 battle."  Mal said.

"Ok, fine, whatever."  Edgar replied.

"Then let's go!"  Mal cried, throwing her first poke ball.

A Mightyena named Shadow appeared

"Go Ace."  Edgar said.

A Taillow emerged from Edgar's poke ball.

"That's the best you've got?"  Mal asked sarcastically.

"No, I've got better.  I'm just holding them in reserve."  Edgar replied.

"Whatever."  Mal said.

"Ace, use Aerial Ace."  Edgar said.

"Shadow, use Take Down."  Mal commanded.

Ace couldn't take the pressure, and fainted.

"Hah, what a pathetic pokemon."  Mal jeered.

"I'll show you……!"  Go, Nemo!"  Edgar said.

Now a Wailmer appeared.

"Not that thing again."  Mal said, rolling her eyes.

"Nemo, use Ice Beam.

Mal was too busy gloating over her first round victory to remember to issue an attack.

So the Ice Beam hit Shadow, and froze it into a solid block of ice.

"Argh!  Shadow, return!"  Mal exclaimed.

"Okay, Firestorm you're up."  Mal said.

Now a Camperupt appeared.

"Use Earthquake."  Mal said.

"Nemo use Hydro Pump."  Edgar called.

Firestorm looked at Mal.

"What?  Use Earthquake.  Don't tell me you don't know Earthquake."

Firestorm nodded.  Then Mal got mad, but that didn't help the situation.  Hydro Pump hit Firestorm and fainted it in one stroke.

"Not again!  Firestorm, return!"  Mal said, sounding very annoyed.

"Okay, Velvet you're up!"  Mal said, while throwing her poke ball.

"What is that thing?"  Edgar asked.

"A Zangoose."  Mal replied.

"Okay, Nemo use another Ice Beam."  Edgar said.

"Velvet, use Slash!"  Mal commanded.

Slash hit Nemo, but it didn't do much.  Now Nemo's attack hit.  It hit Velvet, and froze it into a block of ice like it had done Mightyena.

"Not another ice statue!"  Mal exclaimed.

"I'll get you back for this."  Mal said.

Then she ran off down the hall.  Now Archie emerged carrying Karania in his arms.  Karania's head rested up against Archie's shoulder.

Maxie saw Archie holding Karania because he said, "Hand her over, she's our prisoner."

"Not anymore, she's not."  Archie replied.

Maxie took a step forward, but then got chased backward by a Dragonite.  Everyone turned around to see Lance coming running down the hall.

"And who are you?"  Maxie asked Lance.

"I'm Lance, and I'm here to make you pay for harming my girlfriend."

"Your girlfriend?"  Maxie said backing away slowly.

"I'm not letting Karania go."  Maxie said.

"Then we'll have a 1 on 1 pokemon battle.  Winner keeps Karania."  Lance said.

"Agreed."  Maxie said smirking.

"My pokemon will be Dragonite.  Pick yours."  Lance said.

"I choose, Mightyena."  Maxie said.

Archie continued to carry Karania in his arms, and he planned to turn Karania over to Lance after the battle.

"Mightyena, use Faint Attack."  Maxie ordered.

"Dragonite, use Outrage."  Lance said.

Faint Attack hit Dragonite, but it did next to nothing.  Then Outrage hit Mightyena and fainted it in one stroke.

"Argh….  Mightyena return!"  Maxie said.

"Fine take Karania, but you'll have to find her."

Then with that, Maxie ran off after Mal.  Archie now walked over to Lance, and handed Karania to him.

"Oh, no….  She's in bad shape.  We need to get her to the hospital."  Lance said.

Now the rest of Team Aqua met back up with their leader.

The grunts and Admins all saw Karania and they said, "Oh, no!  We were unable to get to her before Team Magma hurt her." 

"Poor Karania."  The gang said.

Now Lance carried Karania in his arms to the Fallarbor Town Hospital.


	19. Leave Me Out Of THis!

Chapter 18 

Once at the hospital, Lance carried Karania inside, and when a nurse saw Karania in Lance's arms she immediately got Karania onto a bed and wheeled her into the critical care unit.  The group followed them as much as they could.  Though they couldn't go in the room with her, so they had to wait in the waiting room.  The gang sat down in chairs, Archie sank into one too, the other Team Aqua members sat down to await news of Karania, and for a while Lance paced back and forth for a while, but after awhile he too took a seat.  The group was immensely worried about Karania.  They were so worried about her because they were afraid that she was going to die.  Lance sat in his chair, worried to death that his girlfriend might die.  Archie was sitting as well, but he was doing something too.  He was making plans to go after Team Magma after he was sure that Karania was going to be alright.

Meanwhile in the critical care unit, the doctors and nurses were trying to save her life.  One of the nurses drew some blood from Karania, and went to run an analysis on it, so that they would know how and what to do to save her.  The results came back 5 minutes later.

"She has a very high poison level.  Whoever did this to her, obviously drugged her."  The nurse said.

"Then we need to bring that level down."  One of the doctors said.

Then he said, "I'll go get a shot that will help bring that level down."

Then he left the room to go get the shot for Karania.  He returned several minutes later with the shot and with a rag to clean a spot on her arm.  He handed the rag to one of the nurses, and she cleaned a place on Karania's left arm.  Then the doctor gently stuck her in the arm with it.  Not too long after the shot had been administered, Karania stirred and woke up.

When she woke up, she wasn't sure where she was, so one of the doctors said, "Take it easy Little One.  You need to rest."

He saw her look around at her surroundings because he told her, "Karania, you're in the hospital.  Now please rest."

Karania relaxed, and they continued to work hard to save her life.  AN hour passed before Karania fell asleep again.

One of the doctors now said, "She doesn't look good, but somehow she will make it.  It's a miracle that she's still alive."

The doctors continued to use various medicines on her to save her.  The antibiotics were taking a long time to take effect, but they were working.  Though Karania was responding little to their medicines until the antibiotics kicked in.  When this happened, Karania's poison level dropped dramatically.  Another 3 hours passed, as the doctors worked to stabilize her.  But at the end of the 4th hour, they had finally succeeded in stabilizing her.  Now that she was stable, they wheeled her out of the critical care unit and took her to a normal room.  In the room, they moved her from the bed she was laying on to the more comfortable bed in her room.  One of the nurses stayed with Karania, while one of the doctors went to get her friends.

In the waiting room, the group was waiting anxiously for news on Karania.  A long 4 hours had passed since Karania had been taken into the critical care unit for treatment.  Everyone jumped to their feet when they saw the doctor enter.

"How is she?"  Lance asked.

"She's going to be fine we've got her stabilized."  The doctor assured him.

The group sighed with relief.

Now the doctor said, "You can see her now if you'd like, but only one person can see her at a time."

The doctor motioned for them to follow him, and he took them to Karania's room.  It was decided that that the kids and Archie would see her first, and then Lance would see her.  Edgar got to see Karania first, then Misty saw her, then Ash, then May, then Sara, then Tani, then Archie, and then Lance.  Archie was glad that she was going to be alright.  Now Archie went to find his Team, and together they left the hospital and went after Team Magma to avenge Karania's suffering.  After Archie left, Lance went to sit by Karania's bedside, and he saw at once that she had been put on an IV.  Lance took Karania's hand, and held it tight.  While hoping that Karania would pull through, and beat her illness.

Back outside her room, May and Edgar were talking.

"It's so great that Karania's going to be alright."  May said.

"It sure is."  Edgar agreed.

Now he said, "Um, May…..  Would you like to go with me to get something to eat?  I'm starved."

"Of course.  I'm hungry too."  May replied.

Now May and Edgar walked to the Pokemon Center, and sat down in the cafeteria and ordered their lunch.

Meanwhile, one Magma grunt had been spying on them. 

He radioed Mal, "Mal, two brats at 5 o'clock, one brunette girl, and a blonde boy.  They've gone to the Pokemon Center to eat.  They're two of the brats, who helped rescue Karania."

"Set up an ambush.  I don't care much about the girl, though make sure that the boy doesn't get away."  Mal said through the radio.

"As you wish."  The grunt replied.

Now the grunt hurried to set up the ambush."

Back in the Pokemon Center, May and Edgar were enjoying their meal.  After another 15 minutes, they had both finished their meal and were walking back to the hospital.  When it happened.  Mal gave the signal, and a group of Magma grunts jumped May and Edgar.  One of the grunts grabbed May, and put a knife close to her neck.  Edgar couldn't do anything to help her, or the grunt would hurt May.  

"Well, well, well….  If it isn't Blondie and his girlfriend."  Mal said, stepping out of a bush.

Mal now called out her Charizard, and it knocked Edgar to the ground with its tail.  

Then she recalled it, and said, "This is what happens when you brats mess with Team Magma.  I'm gonna make an example out of your boyfriend…."

Now Mal started to kick Edgar in the ribs, and he was in a great deal of pain.

May begged, "Please, don't hurt Edgar!…."

Mal stopped, and looked at May.  Now Mal decided to take Edgar prisoner.

Then she ordered, "John, let the girl go."

Once he released her, May ran off to tell the others what had happened.  Soon after May left, Mal used a drug that caused Edgar to black out so that she could move him back to their base.

Back in the hospital, Karania had just woken up and had found Lance sitting beside her, holding her hand.  Suddenly Karania sensed that something bad was happening to Edgar, and shot up in bed.  Lance gently pushed her back down.

Then Karania said, "Lance, something bad's happening to Edgar."

"Shh…  You need to rest."  Lance said.

Now it wasn't that Lance didn't believe Karania, it was more the fact that he didn't want her to strain herself after they had just gotten her stabilized.

Mal had now taken Edgar prisoner, and had taken him back to their base.  Mal took Edgar up to her dad's quarters, and tied him to a chair.  Before she went to get her dad.  A few minutes later, Mal returned with her dad.  They took seats across the table from Edgar and waiting for Edgar to awaken.  When Edgar awoke, he found that he was tired to a chair, and he saw Mal and Maxie sitting across the table from him, grinning evilly.

Now Maxie said, "So you were one of the brats, who rescued Karania.  You must be her knight in shining armor."

Now Edgar said, "What's it to you?  Let me go!…."

Maxie leaned across the table and slapped Edgar hard across the face.  

Then he grabbed Edgar by his hair and said, "Don't test my patience, boy!  You don't want to mess with me, so unless you do exactly as I tell you, you will remain silent.  Is that clear?"

Edgar nodded and remained silent.  Now Mal took Edgar's pokedex from his pocket and showed it to her dad.

"So you're the son of Prof. Birch, my, this is better than I expected."  Mal said.

Now Edgar replied, "What do you want from me?"

Maxie replied, "You know exactly what I want!  I want the Girl of Legend herself, Karania Avalon."

Now Edgar asked, "Does her status as a master have anything to do with it as well?"

Maxie replied, "No, I just want Karania so that I can control the Legendary pokemon."

Now Maxie said, "Mal, take Edgar to a cell.  Karania's old one will do perfectly."

"As you wish, dad."  Mal said as she untied Edgar.

"Come on, Blondie.  Let's go."  Mal said sounding annoyed.

Edgar walked with her reluctantly, but he knew that he had no choice.  Since he knew that if he didn't do as they said, that they would hurt him.  Mal locked Edgar in Karania's old cell, and then she went back to work.

Back in Maxie's quarters, Maxie was thinking about something.

"I've got to get my hands on Karania again.  Though how am I gonna do that?….."

Maxie thought long and hard for a minute before he said, "I've got it!  I'll kidnap her from the hospital and bring her back her to our infirmary, and hold her captive once again.  Yes, that'll do nicely….  Now all that we need to do is to steal an ambulance so that we can move her back here without detection."

Now Maxie left the room to find his daughter and to tell her of his latest plan. 


	20. Karania's Abduction

Chapter 19 

After telling Mal of his plan, a week passed before Maxie's plan actually began.  When it began, he sent some grunts to Fallarbor to steal an ambulance, and to determine whether or not Karania was in the hospital there.  The grunts found out that she was in the hospital there, and thus Maxie's plan continued.  Once this first step had been accomplished, the grunts disguised themselves as doctors and medical technicians.  Then the grunts, who were disguised as doctors went into the hospital, and obtained Karania's medical records from the staff.

Then they said after looking at her records, "She doesn't appear to be faring too well."

"That's true."  Karania's real doctor replied.

Then he said, "I hate to move her, but moving her to the Mauville Hospital is her only chance of fully recovering."

The grunt doctors knew that this was the opportunity they had been waiting for, so they said, "We could take her there today, if you'd like.  I noticed that an ambulance is outside with its staff already."

Karania's doctor hesitated, "Ok, go ahead and take her there.  Let me show you where she is."

Karania's doctor now led the grunt doctors to Karania's room.  The doctor went in first while the grunt doctors waited outside, and persuaded Lance that he needed to leave her for a bit.  Since she needed to be moved to Mauville to continue getting treatment.

"You can't care for her here?"  Lance asked.

"We can, but it's more the fact that the Mauville hospital is more or less based on dealing with many drug related cases.  I think that since she was drugged by Team Magma, that it's the best place for her at the moment."  Karania's doctor said.

One of the grunt doctors went to get an ambulance bed for Karania, and he returned with it a few minutes later.  Lance now left Karania's side to get lunch.

"Lance, meet me back here in an hour.  By then we'll know exactly how Karania's doing after she's been moved."  Karania's doctor said.

Now Lance said, "Okay, I'll do that."

Lance glanced at Karania, where she was sleeping, and stroked her hair before he left her.

Now the doctor went out of her room and said to the grunt doctors, "I trust, that you can get her from here."

"Of course."  The grunt doctors replied.

"Then I'll leave you to it.  Though before I go, I'll unhook her IV bag from the stand and set it on the bed beside her.  It will still continue to work even though it's laying flat."  Karania's doctor said, as he unhooked the bag from the stand.

Then once that was done, her doctor left her.  The grunt doctors now carefully moved her to the ambulance bed, setting her IV bag beside her, and covered her with a blanket.  Then they set the kidnap note Maxie had written on her old hospital bed, and wheeled her out of her room.  They wheeled her down the halls and out of the hospital, where they loaded her into the back of the ambulance.  Now they started driving her, not to Mauville, but back to their base.  Once at the Fiery Path they unloaded her bed and wheeled her through the Fiery Path, and into their base.  Now they wheeled her threw their base, took her up a couple of floors, and took her in the infirmary.  Once at their infirmary they moved her to one of the infirmary beds, pulled the covers up around her, and hooked her IV bag up to an IV stand.  Then they left her, taking the ambulance bed back outside to the ambulance and drove the ambulance to Mauville.  Where they ditched it in front of the hospital, and walked back to base.  Knowing that their mission had been accomplished.


	21. Where Am I?

Chapter 20 

When Karania first woke up in the infirmary, she looked around at her surroundings and began to wonder where the heck she was.

Maxie from where he was watching her, saw that she was finally awake and said, "I see that you're finally awake."

Karania turned her head in the direction that Maxie's voice came from.

"Where…..?  Who?"  Karania asked, sounding confused.

"Come on now, you know who I am."  Maxie said.

"Maxie?"  Karania asked uneasily.

"That's right you got it."  Maxie told her.

"Oh, dear god.  Not you again…."  Karania said, after learning that Maxie had her once again.

Maxie laughed and said, "Yes, it's me…..  Did you really think that you could escape from me?  I don't think so.  For as long as you have something I want from you, we will continue to go after you until we get it."

Now Karania asked, "Where am I?"

Maxie replied, "My dear, you're in our infirmary at our base."

Karania looked terrified.

Maxie saw her terrified expression on her face because he said, "I'll bet that you want to know, what I plan to do with you."

He leered at Karania, waiting for her to reply.

Then when she didn't he continued, "I plan to ransom you, and also keep you from dying as much as we possibly can."

After Maxie told Karania of the plans he had for her, he took out a length of strong cord and tied her wrists together, before he tied the other end to the side of the bed.

Karania now looked at Maxie and asked, "But, what good will that do you?  I'm sick."

Maxie chuckled slightly at what Karania had said. 

Then he replied, "My dear, you may be sick, but you're still incredibly useful to have around."

Now Karania said, "You won't get away with this Maxie.  My friends will come rescue me!"

Maxie looked at Karania for a moment before he said, "I think not, my dear."

Now he went on, "I plan to use you to make a certain someone do as I ask to save you."

Karania now asked, "I see, and who exactly is this person?"

Maxie grinned evilly at Karania, which gave her an uneasy, sinking feeling that he had some sort of plan up his sleeve that involved her.

Then Maxie said to Karania, "I want you to meet someone."

Maxie now stood up, and turned to the door and said, "Mal, bring in the brat!"

The door opened, and Mal entered with Edgar right beside her.

"Edgar!  They got you too?"  Karania exclaimed.

Edgar looked at the floor and didn't answer.

"Edgar!  What have you done with him, Maxie!?"  Karania asked.

Maxie replied, "Don't worry about the boy.  You should be concerned about what I have in store for you."

Then Maxie said, "As you can see, boy….  I have Karania too, and she will be the one who suffers if you don't do as I say."

Edgar looked up after Maxie said that and exclaimed, "Please, don't hurt her!"

Maxie laughed, and pulled Edgar out of earshot from Karania.

Before he asked, "Why do you care for her so much?"

Edgar softly replied, "She's like a sister to me."

Karania didn't know what was going on.  Since she couldn't see exactly what they were doing, or hear what they were saying from the bed she was laying on.  They now moved back within earshot of Karania.

Maxie glanced over at Karania and then looked back at Edgar before he continued, "I'll tell you what….  I won't hurt Karania, if you join Team Magma."

From behind Maxie, Karania shook her head.

Edgar got the message she was trying to send him because he said, "There's no way, that I would even consider joining you!"

In which case Maxie replied, "Very well…..  Then Karania pays the price."

Karania looked scared.  Maxie now walked over to a shelf.  Once there, he got a needle and filled it with a sleeping fluid.  Before he came back over to Karania.  Maxie didn't give Edgar a chance to change his mind because he stuck Karania in the arm with it.  Karania fought to stay awake, but that attempt was useless.  The drug soon overpowered her, and lulled her into a deep sleep.  Once Karania was asleep, Maxie grabbed Edgar, and pulled him close so that they were now face to face.

Maxie now said, "I'll give you one more chance…."

Edgar gulped.

Maxie now growled, "You will do as I say, if you value your so called sister's life….."

Maxie allowed Edgar to think for a moment, while he went to get one of the doctors.  In a few minutes, Maxie returned with the doctor.  The doctor saw Karania, and began trying to determine what was wrong with her. 

As the doctor was doing that, Maxie turned back to Edgar and asked, "So, what will it be?"

Edgar glanced over at Karania, where the doctor was now taking a small sample of her blood to run an analysis on.  Then the doctor left the room to run the analysis on the sample he had obtained from Karania.

Before replying, "Ok, fine.  I'll join….  Just don't hurt her."

"Now, that's a good boy."  Maxie said, while petting Edgar on the head.

Then Maxie said, "Now, you do exactly as I tell you.  I is that clear, child?:

"Yes."  Edgar replied.

"Yes, what?"  Maxie asked him.

"I mean….  Yes, sir….."  Edgar replied.

Now Maxie said, "Now that's more like it."

Now Maxie turned to Mal and said, "Mal, go get a boys uniform for Edgar."

"As you wish, dad."  Mal replied.

Mal now left the room.

When Mal left, Edgar turned to Maxie and said, "Promise me, that you won't harm Karania."

"I won't harm her, if you do exactly as you're told."  Maxie told him.

Now Mal entered with the uniform, and gave it to Edgar.

Then Maxie said, "This will be your uniform from now on.  You are part of the family now, the Team Magma family."

Now Mal and Maxie laughed.

"I'll wear it, but it makes me sick to even think of wearing it!"  Edgar said.

Mal now spoke up and said, "You will wear it, and you will do as you're told.  Got it?" 

Edgar then replied, "Yes, ma'am."

Maxie then said, "Child, duck behind that curtain behind you, and change into your new uniform."

Edgar did as he was instructed, and then came back out a few minutes later carrying his old clothes in his arms.

"Now, fold your clothes, and place them under Karania's bed.  Then come with me."  Mal said.

Once again, Edgar did as he was told.

Before he left the room with Mal, Maxie said, "If you try to escape, it will be your fault that Karania dies."

Then Edgar left the infirmary with Mal.

The doctor now returned with the results of the analysis.

"So doctor, how is she?"  Maxie asked.

"Not too good, I'm afraid."  The doctor replied.

"That's not good."  Maxie said grimly.

"She's very weak.  If we don't get some fluids in her, I'm afraid that we're going to lose her."  The doctor relied.

"Do it.  She still has the IV in her arm from when she was in the hospital.  Use it to save her life."  Maxie said.

"Okay, I will.  Now I need to get a new IV bag ready for her.  Since the one she's one won't last much longer."  The doctor said.

"You do that."  Maxie said.

The doctor then left the room, and began preparing the IV bag for Karania.  Maxie was thinking about how it would be a pity if Karania died, when a loud beeping noise jarred him out of his thoughts.  He looked up and saw at once that her IV bag was now empty.  Maxie was about to get the doctor, when the doctor returned with a new IV bag.

"Good timing.  Her other bag is now empty."  Maxie said.

"So it is.  Then I need to switch them out."  The doctor said.

Then he walked over to her IV stand, removed the empty bag, and put the new one in its place.

"There.  That should do it, for now at least."  The doctor said.

"Good."  Maxie said.

Now her new doctor turned to Maxie and asked, "How did she get this sick?"

"When she was our captive a week ago, I used some drugs on her to render her defenseless.  I didn't know that they would affect her this much."  Maxie said.

"Okay, so she fell sick because of the drugs you used on her.  Can I ask which drugs you used on her?"  Her doctor asked.

Maxie replied, "I used one to put her to sleep, one that would disable her psychic powers, and also one that would sap her energy."

"Hmm…..  It's my bet that some of those drugs reacted with each other, thus making her sick."  Her doctor said.

Now Maxie asked, "Can you save her?"

"I'll do what I can for her."  The doctor replied.

"Then try to keep her stable."  Maxie said.

"I'll do that."  Her doctor said.

Maxie and the doctor watched her sleep for a bit.  Then her doctor went to prepare a shot that would help her to regain her strength so that she could combat her illness.  After the doctor left, Maxie took his hand and ran his it over her face in a gesture of slight concern.

"Sorry, I had to do this to you, Little One, but I had no choice if I wanted Edgar to do as I said."

Maxie watched her sleep for a few more minutes before getting up, and leaving the infirmary with the idea that he would go back to his office, and write the ransom letter for both Edgar and Karania.


	22. Something's Not Quite Right

Chapter 21 

Back in the Team Magma infirmary, the doctor had just given Karania a shot that would help her to regain her strength.  Maxie had written the ransom note, and had come back to the infirmary to watch Karania.  He was standing near her, watching her sleep.  It seemed to Maxie that her dreams were sweet, and she didn't appear to be troubled by anything.

"So her sleep's untroubled and peaceful.  That's good."  Maxie thought as he watched her.

As Maxie watched her, he began to realize that he had gotten attached to having her around.  Karania continued to sleep, but it wouldn't be long until she awakened.

May had now gotten over her shock of having watched Edgar being kidnapped (about a week had passed since he had been taken), and she went to find Lance to tell him what she knew.  She found him leaving the hospital.

"Lance, wait!"  May called after him.

Lance stopped, and waited for May to catch up to him.

When she caught up, Lance asked her, "What's up, May?"  

May replied, "I meant to tell someone something important about Edgar, but I forgot to tell someone about it."

"What about Edgar?"  Lance asked.

May started to cry, "He was kidnapped by Team Magma right in front of my eyes."

Lance hugged her, and tried to comfort her.

"Shh…..  It's gonna be okay.  We'll get Edgar back, don't you worry.  Now keep your chin up, and don't lose hope.  Cause we will find Edgar."

"Okay."  May replied.

May stopped crying, and she went to go find Ash, Misty, Tani, and Sara.  She found them training their pokemon.

Meanwhile, Lance was eating his lunch.  His thoughts kept going from Karania, to Edgar, and then back to Karania again.  An hour passed, while Lance was eating.  Then when he finished eating, he went to find out Karania's condition in the hospital she had supposedly been moved to.  Lance went back to where Karania's room was located, and met back up with her doctor.

"Ah, Lance.  There you are.  Are you ready to find out what Karania's current condition is in the Mauville City hospital?"  The doctor asked him.

"I am."  Lance replied.

"Good.  Please come with me to my office, and I'll call the hospital."  The doctor said.

Lance and the doctor walked to his office, and once there the doctor picked up the phone and called the hospital.  The phone rang for a few minutes before it was picked up.

"Hello, Mauville City Hospital, how can we help you?"  A cheerful woman's voice on the other end said.

"Um, yes.  I'm calling from the Fallarbor Town Hospital, we sent a girl named Karania to you a little while ago, and we wanted to know how she's doing."  Karania's doctor said.

"Let me see……  Karania…….."  The woman on the other end said.

Lance and the doctor heard papers being rustled, then the woman came back on the line.

"I looked through every paper we had.  We don't have a patient named Karania.  I'm sorry."  The woman said.

"Oh, no.  Then that means that something's happened to her."  Karania's doctor said.

"I hope you find her."  The woman said.

"Okay, thanks for your time."  Karania's doctor now hung up the phone.

He now turned to Lance and said, "Something's wrong.  They said that they didn't have Karania at their hospital.  I'm afraid that something's may have happened to her."

"Oh, no.  I hope she's okay."  Lance said.

"Me too."  The doctor said.

Then Lance said, "Let's go to her room, and see if we can piece together what we think might have happened to her."

"That's a good idea."  The doctor said.

Now Lance and the doctor walked back to Karania's room, and went inside.  When they did, they both saw the note that was lying on her bed.  Lance picked it up and read it.  Then he handed the note to the doctor, and he read it before handing it back to Lance.  They both gasped.

**The note read:**

Karania is once again mine as she should be.  Don't try to rescue her, unless you want me to kill her.  The boy will be the same story.  As long as Edgar does what I ask of him, the girl won't be harmed.

**It was signed, Maxie of Team Magma**

"Oh, no!  They got Karania again, and there's nothing I can do!"  Lance exclaimed.

"Calm down, Lance.  I'm sure the authorities will do everything in their power to save them….."

Lance replied, "I know, but still I'm worried about what might happen to Karania and the boy.  There has to be something I can do."

Now the doctor said, "Lance, go find Archie.  He'll know what to do in this situation."

"Good idea."  Lance said.

"I'll alert the authorities that she was taken again."  The doctor said.

Now Lance left the hospital, note in hand, and went to find Archie.  Lance found Archie at the edge of town helping the kids train their pokemon.  The kids had just finished training, and walked into town to heal their pokemon.  Archie turned to leave.

"Archie, wait!"  Lance exclaimed.

Archie stopped walking, and turned around and saw Lance standing there.

"Lance, what are you doing here?  I thought you were with Karania."  Archie said.

Lance replied, "I was with Karania, but the doctor made me leave her for a while.  Then when I came back an hour later, she was gone.  All we found was a note on her bed that said that she was kidnapped.  May told me earlier that Edgar was kidnapped by them."

Lance handed the note to Archie to read.

Archie read the note and then exclaimed, "Team Magma again!  We have to rescue Karania and Edgar.  They're both in real danger."

"So what should we do to save them?"  Lance asked.

"First we need to come up with a plan to rescue them."  Archie said.

"What do you have in mind?"  Lance asked.

"I was thinking that Karania's safety should come first since she's sick.  I'm not forgetting Edgar.  I just think that we should get her out of there first, so that she can keep recovering.  Then we can go back for Edgar."  Archie said.

Lance replied, "Yes, but what if Maxie harms the boy?  He could be in danger."

"Don't worry, Lance, we'll rescue them both."

Now Lance said, "We can't waste any more time.  We must act now!"

Archie replied, "Very well, I'll gather my men, and we'll start looking for them now.  I'll also get the kids to help up find them."

Lance replied, "Good."

Then he asked, "Archie?"

Archie replied, "Yes?"

"Thank you for helping me."  Lance said.

Archie replied, "It's the least I can do to help you get Karania back.  She saved my life once, and I want to repay her by helping you to rescue her."

"She rescued you?"  Lance said surprised.

"Yes, I'll be glad to tell you about it later, if you'll tell me how you and Karania met."  Archie said.

"Sure, I'll be glad to tell you about it later."  Lance said.

Now Lance and Archie went to get everyone they could to help find Edgar and Karania.  Then they hurried off to begin looking for them.


	23. Maxie's Secret

Chapter 22 

When Karania woke up in the infirmary and sat up, she found Maxie sitting beside her.

Maxie smiled and asked, "Are you feeling better, Sweetheart?"

Karania stared at Maxie for a minute before replying, "I feel somewhat better."

"Good.  That's what I want to hear."  Maxie told her.

"If you don't mind my asking, I was wondering why you're caring for me?"  Karania asked.

"I'm having you cared for because you're a treasure, and also because I've gotten very attached to having you around, and I don't want to lose you."  Maxie told her.

Karania looked slightly horrified.  Maxie now reached over and untied her wrists, from where he had bound them earlier.

Maxie continued, "Those are the reasons, why I'm not letting you die."

Then Maxie said, "You must be hungry, since you haven't eaten since you were in the hospital.  Is that correct?"

Karania couldn't find her tongue, so she merely nodded.

Now Maxie said, "In that case, I think that it's time for you to eat something." 

Maxie now got up, and got a warm bowl of soup and a spoon.  Before he came back over to Karania, and sat back down beside her.  Maxie then took a spoonful of soup, and moved it towards Karania's lips.  Karania saw what he was trying to do, and she didn't want to have anything to do with this.  So she turned her head away from Maxie, and continued to do this every time he tried to feed her.

Then after a while, Maxie got tired of this because he said, "Come on now, don't make me force this down your throat!  I can and will do it.  So I suggest that you eat of your own accord.  I will hate having to force you to eat, but I will do it if I have to.  So let's try this again……."

Maxie now brought the spoon up to her mouth, and this time Karania didn't offer any resistance and accepted the food gratefully.  This continued until all of the soup was gone, and Karania laid back down.  Then Maxie pulled the covers back up around Karania, and not to long afterward Karania went back to sleep.  Maxie was relieved that Karania had finally caved in and agreed to eat something.  

Maxie watched her sleep for a bit, while Maxie thought, "Sleep well Little One.  You'll need all the rest you can get."

Maxie continued watching her sleep, and he became worried about her because she coughed in her sleep.

Maxie now thought, "Why the heck did I harm her like I did?"

Maxie hated to leave her, but he knew that he had to.  As he got up to leave her, he glanced back at Karania.  Where she was sleeping peacefully.  He walked to the doorway and paused, taking another glance at Karania.

While he thought to himself, "Am I falling in love with the girl?  NO!  I can't be, she's too young for me, but then again she is extremely beautiful.  NO!  I mustn't think about that."  

Maxie grinned evilly.  "I think I'll deal with them later……"

Then with that Maxie left the infirmary, leaving Karania to sleep.


	24. Edgar's Request

Chapter 23 

Edgar worked around the base for several weeks after joining Team Magma.  While this happened, Karania was still in the infirmary still very sick.  Edgar wanted to see her, but he knew better than to ask.  

After a while Maxie approached Edgar and said, "Since you've done as you were told, I'm going to allow you to visit Karania."

Maxie now took Edgar up to the infirmary.  Edgar entered and walked over to Karania, and sat down beside her to wait for her to awaken since she was still asleep.  Maxie now went to give out orders to the rest of the team.  One group was told to go to Mossdeep, to steal a meteorite from the Space Center.  Then the other group was told to take a strange machine to Mt. Chimney, and then help to guide the rest of the team there.  Then they were told, that once they were together they were to unleash the power of the meteorite so that the volcano would erupt.  Then a spy was to go to Fallarbor to spy on the gang and Team Aqua.

Up in the infirmary, Karania was just now awakening from her sleep.  Karania woke up and found Edgar sitting beside her.  Karania eyed his uniform suspiciously.

"Why'd you join?"  Karania asked.

"I had no choice.  Maxie said he would kill you if I didn't.  I didn't want him to kill you, so I joined to keep you alive."  Edgar replied.

Karania was about to reply when the door opened and Maxie entered.  Karania saw Maxie enter, and she tensed up, and became very angry and scared.  Karania didn't like that Maxie was holding her captive even though she was very sick.

Maxie saw that she was tense and he said, "Calm down, Karania.  You don't want me to let you die, do you?"

Karania didn't reply, nor did she relax.

Edgar said, "Karania, please calm down.  I don't want you to get hurt!"

Maxie saw that she still hadn't calmed down so he said, "Karania, save your strength.  You'll need it to combat your illness."

Karania now asked, "Is having me close to death enough for you?"

"It's not, my dear."  Maxie replied, while walking over to her.

Karania now tried to sit up, but Maxie hurriedly pushed her back down.  From where Edgar was sitting, he wasn't too happy that Maxie had touched Karania.

After Maxie had touched her, Edgar exclaimed, "Get your dirty hands off Karania!"

Maxie then replied, "Listen, boy.  I'm only trying to help Karania, so back off!"

Edgar retorts, almost crying, "NO!  I will not back off!  I won't let you hurt my friend!  Don't you dare touch her!"

Karania now said, "Calm down, Little One."

Edgar replied, "B-but…..  Karania……"

Karania replied, "Edgar, please let him be.  I know somehow that he won't hurt me."

Edgar replied, I don't know Karania…..  I don't trust him, I don't."

Maxie took Karania's hand in his and held it, and Edgar could tell through Maxie's actions that he was sincerely worried about her.

Now Maxie asked Karania, "You really believe that I won't hurt you?"

Karania nodded.

"Yes, I know that you won't hurt me because I can see that look in your eyes.  Your eyes tell me that somehow you're worried about me."  Karania replied.

Maxie replied, "Yes, you're right about that Karania.  I know what I did was cruel, but now let me help you.  I want to undo the damage that I did to you."

Karania now relaxed, Maxie released her hand, and he pulled the covers back up around her.

Now Edgar asked, "Sir, what did you do to Karania?"

Maxie replied, "What I did to her is not important.  All that matters is that I'm trying to help her get well now."

Karania began trying to tell Edgar what Maxie had done to her, but since Maxie didn't want her to strain herself, he silenced her and made her rest.

Edgar now said, "I insist that you tell me what you did to Karania."

Maxie replied, "Now is not the time, Child……"

Now Karania cut in and said, "Please, Edgar has the right to know……"

Maxie cut Karania off, "Karania, please, you must rest.  You're very weak, and try not to talk."

Now Edgar said, "I hate to say this…..  But he's right, Karania.  You have to rest.  Please don't try to talk….."

Karania now closed her eyes, and fell asleep again.

Now Maxie told Edgar, "Child, you can see her again later, but for now you need to leave her as she needs her rest."

Maxie turned to leave.

Edgar asked, "Uh, sir?"

Maxie stopped and turned around and replied, "What do you want, Child?"

Edgar now asked, "Can I stay and look after Karania?……"

Maxie replied, "Very well, but make sure that she's alright.  Is that clear, boy?"

Edgar replied, "Yes, sir.  I will."

Maxie left Edgar with Karania, and once he was gone, Edgar took a seat beside Karania.  The doctor came in shortly after Edgar had taken a seat, with a shot for Karania.  The doctor walked over to Karania's bed, and carefully moved her left arm out from under the covers.  Then the doctor cleaned a place on her arm.  Edgar watched the doctor care for Karania, and it finally sank in to him exactly how sick Karania was.  The doctor took her arm, and administered the shot.  Karania didn't stir, it was as if she hadn't felt the shot at all.  Now the doctor moved her arm back under the covers, then he left her.

"Poor Karania…….  She's very sick……"  Edgar thought.

Edgar continued sitting by Karania's side, and he continued to do this even after night had fallen.  Karania was sleeping peacefully, and Edgar was slightly jealous that she got to sleep while he had to stay awake and keep an eye on her all night long.  Edgar tried not to think about it.  Midnight came and went, and around 2 o'clock Edgar fell asleep, even though he was trying so hard not to.  Edgar got a rude awakening the next morning by Maxie as he shook Edgar awake.  Edgar woke up, and yawned.

"Boy!  What are you doing sleeping?  You should be looking after Karania, not sleeping on the job!"  Maxie said.

Edgar replied yawning, "I'm sorry……  I got tired……." 

Maxie now grabbed Edgar by the shirt, and you could tell that he was very angry.

Maxie started yelling at Edgar, "DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND HOW IMORTANT IT IS TO KEEP A CAREFUL WATCH ON KARANIA?  SHE'S SO SICK THAT SHE COULD DIE!  I NEVER SHOULD HAVE ALLOWED YOU TO KEEP AN EYE ON HER!"

Edgar got really nervous when Maxie was yelling at him, but he glanced at Karania and she rolled over in her sleep.

Edgar tried to calm Maxie down, "Sir!  If you don't stop yelling you're gonna wake Karania up!"

Maxie stopped yelling at Edgar, "That's true, but the fact remains.  You fell asleep on the job.  What if Karania had needed medical care during the night after you had fallen asleep?"

Edgar looked at the floor and said, "She wouldn't have gotten it because of me….." 

"That's right.  You're just lucky that Karania didn't die while you were asleep."  Maxie said.

Now Mal entered the infirmary.

"Dad, what were you yelling about?"  Mal asked her dad.

"Edgar fell asleep on the job, while he was supposed to be watching Karania."  Maxie replied.

"He did?"  Mal asked.

"Yes, he did."  Maxie said.

Now Maxie said, "Mal, take Edgar back to his cell, and don't give him anything to eat."

"Yes, dad.  Let's go brat, back to your cell!"  Mal said.

Once Edgar and Mal had left, Maxie went to get one of the doctors so that he could be sure that Karania was alright.  A few minutes later, Maxie and the doctor returned, and immediately following his entrance into the room, the doctor began giving Karania a check-up. 

Maxie said, "Make sure that Karania stays stable, or else!  Now do your job!  Is that clear?!"

The doctor replied, "Yes, sir….."

Now Maxie asked the doctor, "So how's Karania?"

The doctor replied, "She's okay, her condition has gotten slightly worse.  Then on top of that, we just ran out of the antibiotics we need to keep her stabilized……"

Maxie exclaimed, "WHAT!?!?  How is that possible?!?!"

The doctor gulped, "As I said, sir.  We don't have anymore antibiotics that will help her."

Now Mal re-entered the infirmary.

"Mal!"  Maxie said.

"Yeah, dad?"  Mal asked.

Her dad replied, "I need you to go to the nearest hospital or Pokemon Center, and get some antibiotics before it's too late!"

Mal replied, "Okay, dad."

Mal turned to leave.

"Oh, and Mal?  Take the brat with you, and make sure that he doesn't screw up."  Maxie said.

Mal replied, "Yes, father….."  

Mal now left the infirmary to get her group together, and then she got Edgar out of his cell.  Then this group left the base, on a mission that Maxie had called "Save Karania".


	25. Care Comes In Many Ways

Chapter 24 

Mal got her group of grunts to wait at the entrance while she got Edgar.  

Mal unlocked Edgar's cell and turned to face Edgar, "Come with me, Blondie.  You're going on a mission with us."

Edgar didn't reply; he merely followed Mal out of his cell.  Mal and Edgar walked to the entrance, and once there the whole group left the base.

"Okay, listen up.  We're going to Lavaridge to steal some antibiotics from the Pokemon Center for Karania.  No one, and I mean no one, better screw up."  Mal said, giving Edgar an evil eye. 

The group now started walking towards Lavaridge.

Back in the infirmary, Karania's case was starting to slowly go downhill.  Maxie and the doctors were becoming very worried about her, since she had stopped recovering strength and was now losing the little strength she had recovered.

Maxie radioed Mal, "Mal, hurry up!  Karania is starting to get worse!"

"Yes, dad."  Mal said through the radio.

Mal's group called out Golbats, Crobats, and a Taillow, and flew to Lavaridge.

In the infirmary, Karania was restless and she had gotten a very high fever.  She couldn't sleep, and she moved around a lot in her bed while trying to get comfortable.

Maxie said to no one in particular, "Oh, my!  Her condition is getting worse by the minute; I don't think she has any time left.  All I can do here is wait and see what happens.  I just hope Mal and the little brat brings the medicine back here in time to save her before it's too late…."

Karania tried to sit up since she couldn't sleep, but Maxie pushed her back down.  Then Maxie placed his hand on her chest and held it there until Karania gave up the thought of trying to sit up.  Maxie then removed his hand from her chest, and while he was doing that he noticed that Karania was very pale.  So he placed his hand on her forehead, and immediately withdrew his hand because she was burning up with a fever.  A doctor entered the room, and walked over to Maxie.

"She has a very high fever, what do you want to do to bring it down?"  Maxie asked the doctor.

"I'll get a cold compress to help bring her fever down."  The doctor replied.

"Hurry, if her fever remains this high she might suffer from brain damage."  Maxie said urgently.

"I'll get it right away."  The doctor replied, hurrying off to get the compress.  

The doctor returned 2 minutes later, and he walked over to Karania and he placed it on her forehead.  Karania jumped slightly.

"Shh……  It's okay…….  Take it easy, Karania…….."  Maxie told Karania comfortingly.

The compress was on her forehead for about 5 minutes before her fever slacked off a bit, but Karania was still very restless.

"Go get a sleeping potion.  She needs her rest, but she can't sleep."  Maxie said.

The doctor nodded and hurried off to get the potion, and he returned with it in about 3 minutes.  The doctor handed the potion to Maxie, and then he helped Karania sit up enough that she could take the potion.

"Karania, you need to drink this, it'll make you feel better."  Maxie told her.

Karania reached for the potion, but her hands didn't want to cooperate with her mind.

"You poor thing…..  Here we'll give it to you, open up."  Maxie said.

Karania opened her mouth, and Maxie poured some of the potion into her mouth.  Karania swallowed the potion, and this continued until all the potion was gone.  Then the doctor helped her lay back down, and he moved the compress back onto her forehead since it had slid off while Karania was taking the potion.  Maxie handed the empty bottle to the doctor, and the doctor left the room to dispose of the bottle.  Then once he was gone, Maxie pulled the covers back up around her.

"Sleep well, my dear.  I hope that your dreams are sweet."  Maxie told her.

Karania closed her eyes and fell asleep.  Maxie watched her sleep, and he prayed that Mal and her group would able to steal the medicine she needed and would be able to get back to base in time to save her.  Now all Maxie could do was hope and pray that Karania could hold on just a little bit longer until the new medicine could arrive for her.


	26. Edgar's Perdicament

Chapter 25 

Mal's group landed in the outskirts of town, and then ran to the Pokemon Center.  Before they entered, Mal looked at Edgar and said, "Look, Blondie, if you give anything away, I'll tell my dad about it!  So don't try to share anything of importance……"

"Ok……."  Edgar replied.

"Good, now let's go.  Once inside, half the group will tie up the trainers, and the rest will come with me to get the medicine."  Mal said.

The group entered the Pokemon Center, and half the group tied the trainers up while the rest went with Mal.

Mal found the nurse, Nurse Joy!  We need medicine for a sick child.  Come on now…….  Do you want something to happen to the kids in the lobby?"

"Of course I don't!  Tell me what's wrong with the child, and I'll give you the medicine you need……"  Nurse Joy said.

Mal described Karania's condition to the nurse.

"That's not good……."  The nurse's eyes landed on Edgar, "Edgar Birch, what are you doing here?!?!"

Edgar replied, "I might tell you later on……"

Mal gave Edgar an evil glare and leaned over and whispered in his ear, "You'll be lucky if my dad doesn't kill Karania over this, you little brat!"

Edgar replied, "What?!?!  I didn't tell her anything……"

Mal replied, "That doesn't matter, you still slipped up."

Edgar didn't reply, and Mal walked away from him and went with the nurse to get the medicines for Karania.  

Then some grunts walked over to Edgar, one of the grunts tapped Edgar and said, "Hey, don't worry about it……  Karania's just a girl."

"A girl I care about!"  Edgar said concerned.

"Sorry, I didn't know……"  The grunt said.

Now Edgar asked, "Do you think she'll hold that little slip up against me?"

"I doubt it."  Another grunt replied.

"Yeah, you didn't tell the nurse anything when she asked, so I don't think Mal with tell her dad about it.  I think she only said that to make you panic, since you care about Karania and don't want her to be harmed."  The second grunt said.

"If it helps, I messed up worse than that on my first mission.  It was a wonder that Maxie didn't fire me……"  The first grunt said.

Mal and the nurse returned carrying two mesh bags full of medicine bottles that were all for Karania.  Some grunts walked over and took the bags from Mal and the nurse.  Now everyone in Mal's group left the Pokemon Center, and once they left Nurse Joy called the Police.

~*~

"Officer Jenny, Team Magma was just in my Pokemon Center, and they stole a large number of medicine bottles from me.  They said that it was for a sick child they had."  Nurse Joy said speaking into the phone.

"They did?"  Nurse Joy asked.

"Yes, they did."  There was one person in their group, who I don't think was doing it of his own will."  Nurse Joy said.

"Really?!?! Who?"  Officer Jenny asked.

"Edgar Birch, he tried to give me a clue about what was happening, but he couldn't say much."  Nurse Joy said.

"I'll look into this right away!  Thanks for telling me."  Officer Jenny said.

They exchanged goodbyes, and Nurse Joy hung up the phone.  Then she went to see if the kids were okay.


	27. Memories

Chapter 26 

Back in Fallarbor, Lance, Team Aqua, and the gang had gathered and they were walking out of Fallarbor towards Team Magma's base.

As they were walking Archie asked Lance, "How is it that you and Karania met?"

Lance replied, "We met over a large Red Gyarados incident over near Mahogany Town in Johto."

Now Archie asked, "Why was the Gyarados red?"

Lance replied, "The Gyarados was red because Team Rocket had preformed some experiment on it to cause it to evolve prematurely."

(Start Lance's Flashback)

Lance and Karania were running towards the Red Gyarados, and it fired a strong water gun, which hit Karania and knocked her to the ground.  Lance rushed over to her to make sure that she was all right.  

"Are you alright?"  Lance asked her.

Karania replied, "I just got the wind knocked out of me, other than that I'm fine."

Lance helped Karania to her feet and he took her hand and together they ran off to finish dealing with the Red Gyarados.

(End Lance's Flashback)

Now Archie said, "I see…….  So that's how you met her……."

Everyone had been listening intently as Lance had told his story.

Tani asked, "Lance, did Karania try to stop it on her own, or did you help her?"

Lance replied, "She didn't try to stop it alone because Team Rocket showed up after she had seen it and tried to capture her to keep her quiet about what she had just seen.  However, I was flying on my Dragonite above them, and when an Executive sent out a Weezing, I had my Dragonite fire off a Hyper Beam to get it away from her so that I could get close enough so that I could take her to safety.  Once I had her and she was safe, I asked her to help me deal with Team Rocket and the red Gyarados."

Sara was surprised, "Wow……..  That must've been a very interesting way to have met your girlfriend…….."

"It sure was……."  Lance replied.

Now Lance turned to Archie, "How is it that you met Karania?"

Archie replied, "Karania, saved my life once when I was in danger one time."

(Start Archie's Flashback)

Archie was surrounded by 25 to 30 Team Magma grunts, and Karania saw what was happening from the top of the hill she was standing on and was determined to save him from them.  So Karania used her psychic powers to project an image of a giant legendary pokemon, which scared the grunts away.  Once the grunts were gone, Archie made his way over to Karania.

"Karania, thank you for helping me out back there.  If it wasn't for you I'd be a goner, and those Team Magma grunts would've finished me off."  Archie said.

Karania replied, "You're welcome."

Now Archie asked her, "How can I ever repay you?"

Karania replied, "Well, you could repay me by helping me monitor Team Magma's every move.  I cannot do it alone, you could be my extra set of eyes to watch their every movement."

Archie replied, "I will help you take down Team Magma, it's the least I can do to repay you."  They both shook hands.

Karania turned to leave, but before she could go Archie said, "Karania, should they ever capture you, you can be sure that I'll rescue you."

(End Archie's Flashback)

After Archie had told his story, Lance said "So Karania saved your life once, and you want to repay her still."

"That's right."  Archie replied.

Now Lance said, "I hope we can find Karania before it's too late……."

Now Archie said, "Don't worry, we know where they took her now, so it won't be too hard, and I know the layout of their base."

Now Lance and Archie began discussing Karania's health in low voices as they walked towards Team Magma's base.


	28. A Creative Plan

Chapter 27 Meanwhile the Team Magma members, who had gone to steal the medicine for Karania from the pokemon center, were devising a way to get the medicine back to their base without breaking any of the bottles.  They thought of a way so they divided into 2 groups, however Mal wouldn't let Edgar help since he didn't know what the heck he was doing.  Everyone called their flying pokemon, and they flew back to base with it; with both groups flying in 4 rows beside each other, each person holding on to one side and onto their pokemon with their other hand.  They flew back to base with the medicine and managed not to break any of the bottles while they had been flying.  Mal's group hurried inside with the medicines, and as it turned out it wasn't a moment too soon.  The group carried the medicine up to the infirmary and gave it to the doctors, and the doctors took the medicines and took them into a room so that they could prepare some shots to administer some of it to Karania.  Mal made Edgar wait outside the infirmary in the hall while the rest of the group gave the medicine to the doctors. 

Maxie walked out of the infirmary and said, "Mal, you're back…….  Thank goodness, Karania wasn't doing too well she's lost a lot of strength while we were waiting for your group to come back with the medicine for her."

"Is it really necessary to keep the girl alive?  She's so much of a bother to add to our list of things to do."  Mal asked.

"Of course she is!  She's the World Champion, and her supporters will pay a lot of money to get her back."  Her dad replied.

"As you wish, dad."  Mal said.

Now Edgar asked, "Uh, sir…….  May I see Karania?"

Maxie thought for a moment before he said, "You can see her, but only for a few minutes.  Mal, go in with him and make sure that he doesn't try anything stupid."

"As you wish, dad.  Come on, Blondie…….."  Mal said.

Mal took Edgar into the infirmary to see Karania, and Mal turned to Edgar and said, "Make it quick, Blondie, I don't have all day."  Edgar glared at Mal, and she said, "Don't even think of trying to escape, I've got my eye on you so hurry up!"

Now Edgar walked over to Karania where she was sleeping in bed, and sat down beside her.  Edgar observed that she was pale, and he started to cry with tears rolling down his cheeks.  While he was crying he stroked her hair, and began to talk to her even though she couldn't hear him.

"I know you can't hear me, Karania, I'm so sorry about everything.  I had to join Team Magma in order to keep you alive.  You mean a lot to me, Karania.  I love you so much, you're like a mother, a big sister I never had, I promise you that I'll find a way to get us out of here……..  Hang in there, sis, I love you……"

Edgar kissed Karania, and shortly afterward she stirred and woke up.

"Edgar, did you kiss me?"  Karania asked.

When Mal saw that Karania was awake she sent a doctor to go get Maxie.

"Yeah, I did."  Edgar replied.

Now Maxie entered the infirmary, "You're awake!  I'm glad you're okay, but you need to sleep some more………"

He looked at Edgar, "Time's up, its time for you to go back to work.  Go on!"  Maxie said.

Edgar walked over to Mal after taking one more look at Karania. Now the doctors entered with several shots for her, and when Maxie saw them he said, "Keep the girl comfortable and try to keep her stable, is that clear?"

The doctor replied, "Yes, sir……."

Maxie now stood up and left the infirmary, and the doctors began tending to Karania.  One of the doctors took the shot that would knock her out, and came at her with it.

While he was coming at her with it, Karania thought, "Oh, dear……...  Here we go again………"

The doctor stuck her in the arm with the shot, and a few minutes later Karania slipped into a deep sleep.

Now that she was asleep the doctors said, "Good, she's asleep…….  We can perform the procedures on her now."

Now the doctors administered all the shots that they had prepared for her before they left her to allow her to sleep in peace.


	29. Precautionary Measures

Chapter 28 

A few minutes later, the doctors reappeared pushing a cart that had some sort of machine on it over to Karania.  Karania was totally out of it, and had no idea what was going on around her.  A doctor took Karania's right hand and fastened a small device around her middle finger.

"Good, that will begin to monitor her heartbeat."  The other doctor said.

"Yeah, but she's going to need to eat something when she wakes up again."  The first doctor said.

Just then Maxie came back in.  "Aw…..  The little patient is asleep.  Did she try to fight you when you were putting her back to sleep?"  Maxie questioned.

"No she didn't fight us, she more or less just let us give her the shots we needed to give her."  A doctor said.

"Is it healthy for her to sleep as much as she is?"  Maxie asked.

"Yes, it's healthy for her because she'll die if she doesn't."  The second doctor said.

"Maxie, where's that little boy that was in here a little while ago with her?" The first doctor asked.

"Oh, you mean Edgar…….  He's working right now, but I will be telling him about Karania's condition since he worries about her."  Maxie said.

"Whatever you think is best."  The second doctor said.

"I'll be back soon, I'm going to let Edgar know about this."  Maxie said.

"We'll continue to tend to Karania while you do that, boss."  The first doctor said.

"You tend to her and I'll fill Edgar in on her condition."  Maxie said.  Then after he said that, he left the infirmary to go find Edgar.

~*~

"Work faster, you lazy boy!"  Mal jeered.

"I'm doing the best I can, I'm not used to doing this."  Edgar replied.

Maxie entered, "Mal, leave Edgar alone, he's doing the best he can.  He'll get better over time."

"I'm going to go check on someone else for a bit……"  Mal said, clearly unpleased with her father.

"Anyways, I have news on Karania."  Maxie said.

"You do?  How is she?"  Edgar asked.

"She's doing better, but she's still ill as you know.  The doctors gave her a lot of shots, and they hooked her up to a machine that would monitor her heartbeat."  Maxie said.

Edgar was frightened when he heard that Karania had been put on a machine, so Maxie said, "Don't worry, they only put her on it as a precaution.  The doctors think that she'll make a full recovery."

Edgar sighed with relief.

"Now, you and Karania will be released when I get the ransom money I requested for the both of you.  I'll keep you posted on whether I get it or not.  In the meantime, Karania will get medical care and you will do as I say.  Now get back to work."  Maxie said.

"Yes, sir……"  Edgar said.

Then he turned back to what he had been working on.  Maxie now left the room, and Mal came back in and continued keeping an eye on Edgar.

~*~

Meanwhile, the gang, along with Lance and Team Aqua were making their way to the Fiery Path, but as they were passing through the route they saw a group of Magmas gathering.  One group was carrying a strange machine and the others were carrying a box that contained a stolen meteorite.

"Uh-oh, this doesn't look good……"  Archie muttered.

"What should we do, boss?"  An Admin by the name of Tanya asked.

"The only thing we can do, take the cable car to the top and head them off."  Archie replied.

"What about the kids?"  Matt asked.

"They'll stay here with some other members while the rest will come with me to the top to help me stop them."  Archie said.

"Yes, sir!"  Mark said.

Now half the Team Aqua agents split into two groups, one group stayed with the kids and the other went with Archie up the cable car to the top of Mt. Chimney.  About twenty minutes passed before Archie reappeared.

"So far so good, we need to get their machine disposed of so that they can't cause any ecological imbalances.  I'm going to need everyone's help, that machine is very heavy."  Archie said. 

Now Archie, Lance, the kids, and the rest of the Team Aqua agents boarded the cable car and rode it to the top.  One thing weighed heavily on Archie's mind though Karania and Edgar were close-by and needed assistance.  The only thing Archie could do was deal with the problem at hand before they continued looking for Karania and Edgar.


	30. Why Do you Insist On Tormenting Me?

Author note: Thank you Pichu Star for helping me to rewrite this chapter, I couldn't have done it without ya. Thanks.

Chapter 29

"Why Do You Insist On Tormenting Me?"

With everyone helping, it didn't take too long to carry the machine back to the cable car. Once the machine was aboard the cable car, several grunts and Admins rode the cable car to the bottom; and once at the bottom they headed off carrying the machine into Mauville to turn over to the police. Once they were out of sight, Archie and the others began waiting for the cable car to come back up so that they could get back to the task of finding Karania and Edgar before they were hurt

Meanwhile, back in the Team Magma base, Karania was still sleeping when Maxie came back in to check on her.

Maxie walked over to Karania and stroked her hair while he thought, "It's a pity that I have to kill such a beautiful girl, but business is business. But if I don't get what I want, I'll have to kill the child first…… Then Karania."

Shortly after he thought that, Karania stirred and woke up. Karania opened her eyes and noticed that Maxie was at her side, watching her.

"Not you again……." Karania murmured sleepily.

"Yes, it's me. What did you expect? You're my prisoner, so of course you'll see me……." Maxie replied, taking Karania's hand.

Maxie held Karania's hand while he thought, "Come to think of it, I like Karania way too much to even kill her; so I'll keep her around, away from her stinking boyfriend, Lance."

Karania knew better than to pull her hand out of Maxie's grasp, so she just waited for him to release it.

After a few minutes, Maxie released her hand, Now, I'm going to feed you and then I'll expect you to go back to sleep." Maxie got up and walked into the infirmary kitchen and fixed Karania a bowl of Chicken Noodle soup; then he came back over to her, sat down, and began feeding her.

Karania was so hungry that she didn't put up a fight over having Maxie feed her and accepted the food gratefully. Maxie finished feeding Karania, and she laid back down and fell asleep. Maxie watched Karania sleep for several moments before he got up to leave, deciding that he would go back to his office and finish some work.

Meanwhile, Archie and the others had all ridden down the cable car and walked back into the Fiery Path and walked to where the entrance was supposed to be and began looking for it all over again, knowing that every moment that passed might either be Karania or Edgar's last few moments to live.

Meanwhile, back in the Team Magma base, the doctor was about to give Karania a shot that he thought would help her get better, but little did he know that this one shot could very well bring Karania to her knees and nearly kill her. The doctor looked at Karania, sighed once and then stuck her with the needle, which immediately woke Karania up since she had been sleeping in a light doze.

"Ow!" Karania cried as she bolted awake.

"I'm sorry my dear…. I didn't mean to hurt you, I was only trying to help you……" The doctor assured Karania as she came to.

Karania nodded and then promptly afterward fainted. The doctor looked at her in horror, "Oh no! She's having an allergic reaction! I need to move quickly if I'm going to stabilize her!" The doctor scrambled off to get the medicine he needed to do the job.

A few minutes later, the doctor returned with the medicine that he was sure that would help to reverse the allergic reaction Karania seemed to be having, which by every passing minute was robbing her of some of the precious strength she had left and to the doctor this was a bad sign.

"Oh no….. She's losing strength and fast! I must try to save her though." The doctor stuck her with another needle, which was followed a few minutes later by even more needles as he worked to stabilize her.

The door to the infirmary opened and Maxie strolled in after the doctor had finished sticking Karania with needles for the moment. "I'm back, and…… WHAT HAPPENED TO HER!?" Maxie ran to Karania's side and took her hand.

"I gave her a shot that I was sure would help her recover, but it had a reverse effect on her…… I'm trying to reverse the effects of it right now as we speak!" The doctor replied.

"You better! I'm attached to this girl even if she is too young for me. She may have a boyfriend but as far as I'm concerned she belongs to me!" Maxie cried.

The doctor gulped, "I'm doing my best, SIR! I'm doing all I can to save her!"

Maxie looked at Karania, who seemed to be fading fast. "No…. Karania….. My angel….. Who thought this one girl would make me feel like this……" Maxie thought as the doctor continued to work to save her life. "If something happens to you my precious flower, I wouldn't know what to do with myself….. You must get better!" Maxie thought more panic-ridden as the moments seemed to tick away.

As this was happening, outside the base in the Fiery Path, the gang along with Team Aqua was searching for the entrance to the base so that they could go to save Karania.

"Grr! This is ridiculous!" Sara growled punching the wall to the cave in frustration.

Everyone sighed in annoyance at her outburst until a panel slid open that led into the Team Magma base. As it turned out, Sara's outburst had done wonders for the group since it had uncovered the hidden entrance. With no time to lose, the group hurried through the entrance to the base and immediately following their entrance into the base, Archie took up the lead as he began to lead them to the infirmary where he was most certain that Karania was being held. Everyone followed Archie as they walked cautiously towards the infirmary hoping that they would find Edgar along the way too. However, that didn't happen and they soon reached the infirmary without an incident. This was strange, but Archie assumed that they must have been deep into planning some new sinister plot that they weren't paying attention to their security cameras.

They reached the infirmary and Archie held up a finger and said in a whisper, "This is the door to the infirmary, I'm pretty sure that Maxie is in there with her. Our best bet is to catch them off guard and to do that we should all burst into the infirmary at the same moment."

Everyone nodded and began to prepare themselves for what they were about to do. Archie peered through the keyhole to see if Maxie was indeed in there with Karania like he assumed they were, and sure enough he was. Archie saw Maxie standing more or less beside a bed that Archie was more than certain contained a certain black-haired girl known by the world as Karania.

"They're both in there." Archie told the others in a whisper.

Lance looked mad and decided that this was as good a time as any and led the charge into the infirmary. "What have you done with Karania?!" Lance cried as he burst into the infirmary along with the others.

Lance and the others scoured the infirmary with their eyes, and immediately following this, their gaze fell upon Karania who was lying asleep in a bed near the window and appeared to be on her last thread of life. Everyone gasped when they saw this.

Then Sara cried out, "What did you do to her, you monster?"

Maxie gave them an unpleasant smile, turning from where he had been watching over Karania. "It's none of your concern anymore," he replied, facing the group of friends boldly. "I have things all taken care of, and that's all you need to know."

"Hand over my girlfriend!" Lance cried glaring at Maxie. If Lance had been a dragon at this point, Maxie would have been ashes from the way Lance was looking at him.

Maxie's eyes narrowed at the young Dragon Master. "I'm afraid not," he responded. "She's mine now. I'll take much better care of her than you ever could."

"YOU'RE KILLING HER IS WHAT YOU'RE DOING!!!!" Lance exploded.

Misty nodded fiercely. "Yeah, are you blind or something?" she exclaimed. "Look at her! She wasn't like this before you caught her!"

Edgar ran into the room with Mal hot on his heels. Mal made a grab for Edgar so Edgar ducked quickly and Mal, not having enough time to react, smashed straight into the wall and was down for the count.

"Hey guys....." Edgar's gaze fell on Karania and his eyes widened several inches. "Karania!!!" Edgar cried running to her to see if she was alright.

Maxie quickly stepped in the way, and pushed Edgar backwards. "You too, hmm?" he leered.

"Just because you made me join doesn't mean I'm loyal to you!!! My loyalty lies elsewhere and not to you!" Edgar cried.

"Edgar! You're all right!" Ash cried, glad to see his friend was not as bad off as poor Karania.

"Yeah..... Darn that creep! Karania did nothing to him!" Edgar cried clenching his fists. Edgar walked over to the others and away from Maxie.

Sara balled her hands into fists angrily. She hated Team Magma! The criminal team had first taken her family from her... and now they were hurting her friends. She wouldn't let Maxie get away with it! "You jerk! I'm not letting you get away with all this!" She yelled, lunging at Maxie in a fury.

Misty and Tani grabbed Sara and held her back.

Tani lifted her gaze up to meet Lance's eyes, seriousness written in their depths. "Take this loser down," she insisted, indicating Maxie. "This has to stop, or Karania's gonna die."

Lance's eyes narrowed, "Maxie! I challenge you to a battle for Karania. Do you accept or are you too afraid to take me on?"

Maxie froze, knowing full well that Lance was the Indigo League Champion back in Kanto. But he stole a glance over at Karania, and his pride made his mind up for him. "Fine. I accept! But you won't win this time!"

"I doubt that!" Lance retorted. "And to prove it I'll use the pokemon Karania gave me as my birthday present several years ago."

As Lance took out the Poke ball with Salamence in it with a flourish, beads of sweat found their way down Maxie's face. Despite what Maxie had said, the Team Magma leader knew this would not be an easy battle...

"Go Salamence!" Lance cried throwing his poke ball to the ground.

The ball hit the ground, burst open and Salamence appeared with a mighty roar that clearly said, "Let's get this show on the road."

Maxie took a deep breath, not wanting to appear worried. "Go, Mightyena!" he yelled, tossing his Poke ball forward and sending out the black, wolf-like Pokemon to face Salamence. All the other trainers backed away to make room for the two combatants.

"Salamence, use Dragon Claw!" Lance cried.

The Dragon/Flying-type snarled and reared back, claws gleaming as it swiped forward with a Dragon Claw attack. Mightyena leaped back to dodge, but Salamence still managed to rake the Dark-type Pokemon slightly and cause some damage.

Maxie growled angrily and said through gritted teeth, "Use Shadow Ball."

Snarling, Mightyena opened its mouth and built up a ball of dark energy, sending it towards Salamence with a howl of determination.

"Use Protect!" Lance cried instantly.

The Dragon Pokemon, putting full trust in its trainer and Dragon Master, readily obeyed and put up a protective barrier before it. The Shadow Ball crashed into the Protect attack and disappeared harmlessly.

Maxie glowered, frustrated that the attack had done nothing. "Crunch attack, then!" he commanded. "Go!"

"Use Dragon Rage!" Lance cried.

Mightyena landed a bite on Salamence just as the Dragon/Flying type reared its head back to prepare a Dragon Rage attack. The pain from the Crunch attack intensified Salamence's anger, allowing it to unleash an even stronger Dragon Rage at Mightyena. The wolf Pokemon yelped in pain from the greenish blue flames engulfing it, and it leapt away.

"Now use Iron Tail!" Lance cried.

Moving as swiftly as a Ninjask, Salamence flew forward, its tail glowing in preparation for Iron Tail. Still dazed from the Dragon Rage attack, Mightyena had no time to react, and was send sprawling across the room from the Steel-type attack. Ash and Edgar had to duck quickly to avoid the Dark-type Pokemon as it flew over their heads, crashing into the wall.

Maxie gaped at Mightyena in horror. "No!" he cried, taking a step forward. But it was plain to see that the attack had knocked his Pokemon out.

"Game set and match." Lance said smugly recalling his Salamence and walking over to Karania's side.

Stunned, Maxie could only watch blankly for a few moments, as Lance went to Karania's side and took her hand in his. Then, the Team Magma leader clenched his fist, and lunged at Lance. "You're not going to get at her that easily!" he shouted in a frenzy.

"...That's what you think," Tani responded quietly, her head snapping up at Maxie's sudden movement. She moved just as fast as he did, tackling Maxie aside from Lance. She staggered a bit to recover, but Edgar grabbed her arm so she wouldn't fall. Tani smiled in appreciation, then glared down at Maxie. "Hands off Lance, pal," she growled.

Maxie stared at Tani, "I knew it! You're that McPhoenix girl!"

Tani froze at the name, unable to reply. Maxie pointed at her as he got to his feet. "You are, aren't you?" he accused. "There's no one other than Karania who shows this kind of loyalty to Lance! You're that Pokemon Master from Kanto, Samantha McPhoenix!"

Everyone stared at Tani--er, Samantha--in surprise. "What? Is this true?" Edgar asked.

"Yeah......" Samantha said quietly.

Ash was confused. "But... how come you didn't tell us all this earlier?" he asked.

"Because I hate being gawked at." Samantha replied looking down.

"...Just like now, you mean," Lance put in, taking note of everyone's blank stares at Samantha. He tried to give the younger trainer a smile, but it was slightly forced; mostly because of his concerns for Karania.

"It's not that I don't enjoy it, it's just I just want to be liked for who I am and not just for my status." Samantha replied.

May thought about this. She realized it made sense, in a way. All this time, she had thought Samantha had been just Tani, and hadn't been afraid to pal around and make friends with her. If May had known who Samantha really was initially, she would have been intimidated, and seen her in a different light.

Lance turned back to Karania, "Karania...... Please open your eyes! It's me, Lance!"

Karania barely stirred, however. Edgar came alongside Lance and gave her a concerned look as well. "She doesn't look good at all..." he commented fearfully. "Will she be all right?"

In the meantime, though, as everyone was preoccupied with Karania, Maxie was slowly getting to his feet.

"Lance! Behind you!" Ash cried.

Lance quickly turned in time to face Maxie, who lunged at him and tackled him backwards. It was all he could manage not to fall on top of Karania and totally crush her. As he tried to force Maxie away, his eyes caught something gleaming in one of the Team Magma leader's hands. It was a knife.

Samantha and Sara were the only ones who weren't frozen in their tracks at this turn of events. In fact, it only helped to make them move all the more faster. "You get your hands off Lance!" Sam yelled, practically flinging herself at Maxie and trying to pull him away. At the same time, Sara reached for a Poke ball on her belt to assist them.

Lance's eyes widened with worry. "Sam! Sara! Be careful!" he shouted. "I don't want you two getting hurt as well!

Karania stirred and came to, "Mmm......"

Edgar whirled around at the slight sound. "Karania?" he whispered urgently, trying not to attract Maxie's attention.

"Edgar......." Karania replied weakly.

"Karania, you're ok!" Edgar exclaimed in relief, just before Maxie threw Sam off of himself. She landed on top of Edgar, and the two fell to the floor. "Ow..." he groaned.

Sam sweatdropped. "S-sorry!" she blushed.

Maxie had taken notice of Karania's waking-up by this time. "So, you're awake," he said to her, backing off from Lance. Lance stood between the Team Magma leader and Karania defensively.

"Mmm..... Lance...." Karania said weakly.

Lance turned to Karania and gently ran his fingers down the side of her cheek. "Karania... don't worry. I'm here for you, and I'm getting you out of this place," he assured her.

"You're taking her to no such place!" Maxie growled lunging at Lance.

Lance shrank back against the bed, ready to defend Karania from the deranged Magma leader. But a familiar voice jarred them all to attention. "Crawdaunt, Crabhammer attack now!" They all turned in time to see the door get smashed in by the attack.

"Not you!" Maxie cried when his eyes fell on Archie.

The two team leaders glared at one another. "I knew you were going to take this way too far, Maxie," Archie accused, indicating Karania's weakened condition.

Meanwhile while the two team leaders were glaring at each other, Lance unhooked Karania from her IV and lifted her into his arms after he had bundled her into a spare blanket.

Lance paused, looking down at Karania. "I'm not sure... I guess we'll have to make a distraction of some sort."

Lance looked at Sam and mimed a "Do something quick!"

Sam smiled and nodded at Lance, knowing what he needed her to do. She took out a Poke ball with a gilded design of a thunderbolt on it, and released a small Pichu into her lap. The little Electric-type yawned and stretched, looking up at her trainer. "Ok, sweetie, see that man in the red and black?" Sam whispered, pointing to Maxie. "Use Thunder Wave on him."

Pichu beamed happily. "Pi" she exclaimed, running over unnoticed to the Team Magma leader. In fact, neither Archie nor Maxie noticed the Pokemon until she was sitting right on Maxie's foot. As he looked down at her, puzzled, Pichu gave him a big smile, before unleashing a Thunder Wave attack on him.

"AGH!" Maxie cried falling to the floor singed in places.

Archie couldn't help but laugh at Maxie. "Well, well, looks like you're not going anywhere," he said to the stunned Magma leader, before turning to Lance. "All right, now's our chance. Let's get Karania out of here quick, before the rest of Team Magma finds out what happened."

Lance didn't need to be told twice, the moment the coast was clear he along with the others were out of there.

Paralyzed, Maxie couldn't do anything, but watch the group dash past him. "Curse you all..." he snarled. "I'll get Karania if it's the last thing I do!"

At that moment, Mal finally came to from where she had been lying unconscious. "Ow... my head..." she groaned. She then realized Karania was gone, and her dad was paralyzed. "Dad? What happened?" she shouted. "Don't tell me they escaped with Karania!"

Maxie glowered at her. "Well, don't just sit there," he snapped. "Follow them! Make sure you keep tabs on where they're going. There's nowhere they can hide from me! ...And find me a doctor to get me unparalyzed!"

Mal sighed, before getting to her feet and running off to do as her father ordered.


	31. Rescuing Karania

Author note: Thank you Pichu Star for helping me to rewrite this chapter, I couldn't have done it without ya. Thanks.

Chapter 30

"Rescuing Karania"

Meanwhile, back in the Team Magma base, the doctor was about to give Karania a shot that he thought would help her get better, but little did he know that this one shot could very well bring Karania to her knees and nearly kill her. The doctor looked at Karania, sighed once and then stuck her with the needle, which immediately woke Karania up since she had been sleeping in a light doze.

"Ow!" Karania cried as she bolted awake.

"I'm sorry my dear…. I didn't mean to hurt you, I was only trying to help you……" The doctor assured Karania as she came to.

Karania nodded and then promptly afterward fainted. The doctor looked at her in horror, "Oh no! She's having an allergic reaction! I need to move quickly if I'm going to stabilize her!" The doctor scrambled off to get the medicine he needed to do the job.

A few minutes later, the doctor returned with the medicine that he was sure that would help to reverse the allergic reaction Karania seemed to be having, which by every passing minute was robbing her of some of the precious strength she had left and to the doctor this was a bad sign.

"Oh no….. She's losing strength and fast! I must try to save her though." The doctor stuck her with another needle, which was followed a few minutes later by even more needles as he worked to stabilize her.

The door to the infirmary opened and Maxie strolled in after the doctor had finished sticking Karania with needles for the moment. "I'm back, and…… WHAT HAPPENED TO HER!?" Maxie ran to Karania's side and took her hand.

"I gave her a shot that I was sure would help her recover, but it had a reverse effect on her…… I'm trying to reverse the effects of it right now as we speak!" The doctor replied.

"You better! I'm attached to this girl even if she is too young for me. She may have a boyfriend but as far as I'm concerned she belongs to me!" Maxie cried.

The doctor gulped, "I'm doing my best, SIR! I'm doing all I can to save her!"

Maxie looked at Karania, who seemed to be fading fast. "No…. Karania….. My angel….. Who thought this one girl would make me feel like this……" Maxie thought as the doctor continued to work to save her life. "If something happens to you my precious flower, I wouldn't know what to do with myself….. You must get better!" Maxie thought more panic-ridden as the moments seemed to tick away.

As this was happening, outside the base in the Fiery Path, the gang along with Team Aqua was searching for the entrance to the base so that they could go to save Karania.

"Grr! This is ridiculous!" Sara growled punching the wall to the cave in frustration.

Everyone sighed in annoyance at her outburst until a panel slid open that led into the Team Magma base. As it turned out, Sara's outburst had done wonders for the group since it had uncovered the hidden entrance. With no time to lose, the group hurried through the entrance to the base and immediately following their entrance into the base, Archie took up the lead as he began to lead them to the infirmary where he was most certain that Karania was being held. Everyone followed Archie as they walked cautiously towards the infirmary hoping that they would find Edgar along the way too. However, that didn't happen and they soon reached the infirmary without an incident. This was strange, but Archie assumed that they must have been deep into planning some new sinister plot that they weren't paying attention to their security cameras.

They reached the infirmary and Archie held up a finger and said in a whisper, "This is the door to the infirmary, I'm pretty sure that Maxie is in there with her. Our best bet is to catch them off guard and to do that we should all burst into the infirmary at the same moment."

Everyone nodded and began to prepare themselves for what they were about to do. Archie peered through the keyhole to see if Maxie was indeed in there with Karania like he assumed they were, and sure enough he was. Archie saw Maxie standing more or less beside a bed that Archie was more than certain contained a certain black-haired girl known by the world as Karania.

"They're both in there." Archie told the others in a whisper.

Lance looked mad and decided that this was as good a time as any and led the charge into the infirmary. "What have you done with Karania?!" Lance cried as he burst into the infirmary along with the others.

Lance and the others scoured the infirmary with their eyes, and immediately following this, their gaze fell upon Karania who was lying asleep in a bed near the window and appeared to be on her last thread of life. Everyone gasped when they saw this.

Then Sara cried out, "What did you do to her, you monster?"

Maxie gave them an unpleasant smile, turning from where he had been watching over Karania. "It's none of your concern anymore," he replied, facing the group of friends boldly. "I have things all taken care of, and that's all you need to know."

"Hand over my girlfriend!" Lance cried glaring at Maxie. If Lance had been a dragon at this point, Maxie would have been ashes from the way Lance was looking at him.

Maxie's eyes narrowed at the young Dragon Master. "I'm afraid not," he responded. "She's mine now. I'll take much better care of her than you ever could."

"YOU'RE KILLING HER IS WHAT YOU'RE DOING!!!!" Lance exploded.

Misty nodded fiercely. "Yeah, are you blind or something?" she exclaimed. "Look at her! She wasn't like this before you caught her!"

Edgar ran into the room with Mal hot on his heels. Mal made a grab for Edgar so Edgar ducked quickly and Mal, not having enough time to react, smashed straight into the wall and was down for the count.

"Hey guys....." Edgar's gaze fell on Karania and his eyes widened several inches. "Karania!!!" Edgar cried running to her to see if she was alright.

Maxie quickly stepped in the way, and pushed Edgar backwards. "You too, hmm?" he leered.

"Just because you made me join doesn't mean I'm loyal to you!!! My loyalty lies elsewhere and not to you!" Edgar cried.

"Edgar! You're all right!" Ash cried, glad to see his friend was not as bad off as poor Karania.

"Yeah..... Darn that creep! Karania did nothing to him!" Edgar cried clenching his fists. Edgar walked over to the others and away from Maxie.

Sara balled her hands into fists angrily. She hated Team Magma! The criminal team had first taken her family from her... and now they were hurting her friends. She wouldn't let Maxie get away with it! "You jerk! I'm not letting you get away with all this!" She yelled, lunging at Maxie in a fury.

Misty and Tani grabbed Sara and held her back.

Tani lifted her gaze up to meet Lance's eyes, seriousness written in their depths. "Take this loser down," she insisted, indicating Maxie. "This has to stop, or Karania's gonna die."

Lance's eyes narrowed, "Maxie! I challenge you to a battle for Karania. Do you accept or are you too afraid to take me on?"

Maxie froze, knowing full well that Lance was the Indigo League Champion back in Kanto. But he stole a glance over at Karania, and his pride made his mind up for him. "Fine. I accept! But you won't win this time!"

"I doubt that!" Lance retorted. "And to prove it I'll use the pokemon Karania gave me as my birthday present several years ago."

As Lance took out the Poke ball with Salamence in it with a flourish, beads of sweat found their way down Maxie's face. Despite what Maxie had said, the Team Magma leader knew this would not be an easy battle...

"Go Salamence!" Lance cried throwing his poke ball to the ground.

The ball hit the ground, burst open and Salamence appeared with a mighty roar that clearly said, "Let's get this show on the road."

Maxie took a deep breath, not wanting to appear worried. "Go, Mightyena!" he yelled, tossing his Poke ball forward and sending out the black, wolf-like Pokemon to face Salamence. All the other trainers backed away to make room for the two combatants.

"Salamence, use Dragon Claw!" Lance cried.

The Dragon/Flying-type snarled and reared back, claws gleaming as it swiped forward with a Dragon Claw attack. Mightyena leaped back to dodge, but Salamence still managed to rake the Dark-type Pokemon slightly and cause some damage.

Maxie growled angrily and said through gritted teeth, "Use Shadow Ball."

Snarling, Mightyena opened its mouth and built up a ball of dark energy, sending it towards Salamence with a howl of determination.

"Use Protect!" Lance cried instantly.

The Dragon Pokemon, putting full trust in its trainer and Dragon Master, readily obeyed and put up a protective barrier before it. The Shadow Ball crashed into the Protect attack and disappeared harmlessly.

Maxie glowered, frustrated that the attack had done nothing. "Crunch attack, then!" he commanded. "Go!"

"Use Dragon Rage!" Lance cried.

Mightyena landed a bite on Salamence just as the Dragon/Flying type reared its head back to prepare a Dragon Rage attack. The pain from the Crunch attack intensified Salamence's anger, allowing it to unleash an even stronger Dragon Rage at Mightyena. The wolf Pokemon yelped in pain from the greenish blue flames engulfing it, and it leapt away.

"Now use Iron Tail!" Lance cried.

Moving as swiftly as a Ninjask, Salamence flew forward, its tail glowing in preparation for Iron Tail. Still dazed from the Dragon Rage attack, Mightyena had no time to react, and was send sprawling across the room from the Steel-type attack. Ash and Edgar had to duck quickly to avoid the Dark-type Pokemon as it flew over their heads, crashing into the wall.

Maxie gaped at Mightyena in horror. "No!" he cried, taking a step forward. But it was plain to see that the attack had knocked his Pokemon out.

"Game set and match." Lance said smugly recalling his Salamence and walking over to Karania's side.

Stunned, Maxie could only watch blankly for a few moments, as Lance went to Karania's side and took her hand in his. Then, the Team Magma leader clenched his fist, and lunged at Lance. "You're not going to get at her that easily!" he shouted in a frenzy.

"...That's what you think," Tani responded quietly, her head snapping up at Maxie's sudden movement. She moved just as fast as he did, tackling Maxie aside from Lance. She staggered a bit to recover, but Edgar grabbed her arm so she wouldn't fall. Tani smiled in appreciation, then glared down at Maxie. "Hands off Lance, pal," she growled.

Maxie stared at Tani, "I knew it! You're that McPhoenix girl!"

Tani froze at the name, unable to reply. Maxie pointed at her as he got to his feet. "You are, aren't you?" he accused. "There's no one other than Karania who shows this kind of loyalty to Lance! You're that Pokemon Master from Kanto, Samantha McPhoenix!"

Everyone stared at Tani--er, Samantha--in surprise. "What? Is this true?" Edgar asked.

"Yeah......" Samantha said quietly.

Ash was confused. "But... how come you didn't tell us all this earlier?" he asked.

"Because I hate being gawked at." Samantha replied looking down.

"...Just like now, you mean," Lance put in, taking note of everyone's blank stares at Samantha. He tried to give the younger trainer a smile, but it was slightly forced; mostly because of his concerns for Karania.

"It's not that I don't enjoy it, it's just I just want to be liked for who I am and not just for my status." Samantha replied.

May thought about this. She realized it made sense, in a way. All this time, she had thought Samantha had been just Tani, and hadn't been afraid to pal around and make friends with her. If May had known who Samantha really was initially, she would have been intimidated, and seen her in a different light.

Lance turned back to Karania, "Karania...... Please open your eyes! It's me, Lance!"

Karania barely stirred, however. Edgar came alongside Lance and gave her a concerned look as well. "She doesn't look good at all..." he commented fearfully. "Will she be all right?"

In the meantime, though, as everyone was preoccupied with Karania, Maxie was slowly getting to his feet.

"Lance! Behind you!" Ash cried.

Lance quickly turned in time to face Maxie, who lunged at him and tackled him backwards. It was all he could manage not to fall on top of Karania and totally crush her. As he tried to force Maxie away, his eyes caught something gleaming in one of the Team Magma leader's hands. It was a knife.

Samantha and Sara were the only ones who weren't frozen in their tracks at this turn of events. In fact, it only helped to make them move all the more faster. "You get your hands off Lance!" Sam yelled, practically flinging herself at Maxie and trying to pull him away. At the same time, Sara reached for a Poke ball on her belt to assist them.

Lance's eyes widened with worry. "Sam! Sara! Be careful!" he shouted. "I don't want you two getting hurt as well!

Karania stirred and came to, "Mmm......"

Edgar whirled around at the slight sound. "Karania?" he whispered urgently, trying not to attract Maxie's attention.

"Edgar......." Karania replied weakly.

"Karania, you're ok!" Edgar exclaimed in relief, just before Maxie threw Sam off of himself. She landed on top of Edgar, and the two fell to the floor. "Ow..." he groaned.

Sam sweatdropped. "S-sorry!" she blushed.

Maxie had taken notice of Karania's waking-up by this time. "So, you're awake," he said to her, backing off from Lance. Lance stood between the Team Magma leader and Karania defensively.

"Mmm..... Lance...." Karania said weakly.

Lance turned to Karania and gently ran his fingers down the side of her cheek. "Karania... don't worry. I'm here for you, and I'm getting you out of this place," he assured her.

"You're taking her to no such place!" Maxie growled lunging at Lance.

Lance shrank back against the bed, ready to defend Karania from the deranged Magma leader. But a familiar voice jarred them all to attention. "Crawdaunt, Crabhammer attack now!" They all turned in time to see the door get smashed in by the attack.

"Not you!" Maxie cried when his eyes fell on Archie.

The two team leaders glared at one another. "I knew you were going to take this way too far, Maxie," Archie accused, indicating Karania's weakened condition.

Meanwhile while the two team leaders were glaring at each other, Lance unhooked Karania from her IV and lifted her into his arms after he had bundled her into a spare blanket.

Lance paused, looking down at Karania. "I'm not sure... I guess we'll have to make a distraction of some sort."

Lance looked at Sam and mimed a "Do something quick!"

Sam smiled and nodded at Lance, knowing what he needed her to do. She took out a Poke ball with a gilded design of a thunderbolt on it, and released a small Pichu into her lap. The little Electric-type yawned and stretched, looking up at her trainer. "Ok, sweetie, see that man in the red and black?" Sam whispered, pointing to Maxie. "Use Thunder Wave on him."

Pichu beamed happily. "Pi" she exclaimed, running over unnoticed to the Team Magma leader. In fact, neither Archie nor Maxie noticed the Pokemon until she was sitting right on Maxie's foot. As he looked down at her, puzzled, Pichu gave him a big smile, before unleashing a Thunder Wave attack on him.

"AGH!" Maxie cried falling to the floor singed in places.

Archie couldn't help but laugh at Maxie. "Well, well, looks like you're not going anywhere," he said to the stunned Magma leader, before turning to Lance. "All right, now's our chance. Let's get Karania out of here quick, before the rest of Team Magma finds out what happened."

Lance didn't need to be told twice, the moment the coast was clear he along with the others were out of there.

Paralyzed, Maxie couldn't do anything, but watch the group dash past him. "Curse you all..." he snarled. "I'll get Karania if it's the last thing I do!"

At that moment, Mal finally came to from where she had been lying unconscious. "Ow... my head..." she groaned. She then realized Karania was gone, and her dad was paralyzed. "Dad? What happened?" she shouted. "Don't tell me they escaped with Karania!"

Maxie glowered at her. "Well, don't just sit there," he snapped. "Follow them! Make sure you keep tabs on where they're going. There's nowhere they can hide from me! ...And find me a doctor to get me unparalyzed!"

Mal sighed, before getting to her feet and running off to do as her father ordered.


	32. Saving Karania's Life

Chapter 31

"Saving Karania's Life"

The gang hurried out of the Team Magma base with Archie and his team following closely behind them. Lance reached the exit to the base and ran out of the Fiery Path to where he could see daylight.

Archie spotted several Team Aqua members running towards him, and he waved at them. "Do we have a transport available? We need to get Karania to a hospital right away!"

Yeah! There's one nearby it's near the desert." An Admin replied.

Archie nodded. "Right. Then we should hurry and get Karania there right away! Tell the rest of the team to stay alert here, and make sure Team Magma doesn't try to stop us and get at Karania again," he ordered.

"Yes sir!" They cried.

"Come on, Lance," Archie said, motioning to the Dragon Master and his friends. "We need to hurry."

Lance nodded, his mouth set with determination as he hurried after Archie and a few of the Team Aqua members as they led the way.

"Karania..... Hang in there......." Lance murmured half to himself and half to Karania.

"Don't worry, Lance," Sam tried to assure, hurrying to keep up with him. "She'll be fine... she's the Girl of Legend, the Legendaries wouldn't let her die like this... Would they?"

Lance didn't even reply.

Karania's Mew popped out of its poke ball that was being carried along with Karania's other pokemon in Lance's cape pocket.

May gasped, and pointed at it. "W-wha? What's that!?" she asked, shocked at seeing the Legendary Psychic Pokemon appearing out of seemingly-nowhere.

"This is Karania's Mew that she calls Eternity." Lance replied.

Sam beamed. "Aw... it's adorable," she exclaimed. "Just like--" Then she quickly stopped herself. "...Nevermind." Lance gave her a knowing glance, but didn't say anything.

Eternity flew to Karania and laid down seemingly on top of her.

"Eternity must want to help Karania," Sara observed. "I hope that we can help her quickly..."

Karania smiled in her sleep as she felt Eternity settle itself on her.

The group ran along the route towards the desert, until they spotted the Team Aqua transport.

They ran towards the helicopter as fast as they could manage, and Archie tapped on the window. The Aqua members inside looked up and saluted, before opening up the door to allow everyone to get in. Lance climbed in first, with Archie assisting him to carry Karania carefully inside.

"Where are we going to take her?" Lance asked Archie.

"The nearest hospital from here, that could best care for Karania in this condition, is in Fortree City," Archie explained.

Lance nodded, "sounds good to me."

Everyone else piled into the helicopter as the motor was started and the blades began to rotate.

Karania began to come around, "Mmm.... Lance?" She smiled at Eternity and petted her.

"Karania! You're awake... How do you feel?" Lance asked, leaning over and resting his head alongside hers, so he was close to her face.

"Very worn out...." Karania hugged Eternity for comfort.

"I'm sure..." Lance smiled, closing his eyes and nuzzling his face into her soft, black hair. "Don't you worry about a thing, now. We're going to get you to a hospital, and you'll be better in no time."

"Mmm Lance, you're so good to me...." Karania said weakly.

May couldn't help but smile at the sight. "They're so cute together, I think," she exclaimed to Edgar. "Don't you think?"

He blushed a bright red. "Um... yeah..." he stammered. He agreed with her, but he was more nervous about her talking to him, and sitting next to him.

Eternity glowed purple and put both Lance and Karania in a psychic bubble that would prevent Karania from losing anymore strength.

"What's that...?" Ash questioned, as the helicopter took off and started heading northeast for Fortree City.

"Eternity is making sure Karania won't get any weaker on the way to Fortree," explained Sam softly, lowering her sunglasses on her face and staring out the window.

All of a sudden there was a flash of blue light and another Mew appeared.

Everyone's heads turned to this new Mew. "Wha--? Another one?" Misty gasped. "Where'd that come from?"

Sam practically shrieked out loud at the sight of the Mew, which was really only a baby still. "M-minty?" she cried. "Is that--? But... how?"

"Is this your Mew, Sammy?" Ash asked.

Sam nodded, as Minty floated over to her and hugged her. "Yeah... this is Minty!" she said, a genuine smile lighting up her face. For once, she didn't look so somber, as she usually did.

Eternity looked up and winked and at that moment Sam knew that Eternity was holding a secret.

"I wonder... do you and Eternity have a bond of sorts?" Sam asked Minty. "I think you came here because of Eternity, am I right?

Minty nodded.

Karania smiled softly from where she was hugging Eternity. "I think... there's more to it than that," she said. "Right Eternity?" Her Mew nodded as well.

Minty flew to Eternity and hugged her. "Mew mew mew, mewy-mew mew!" Minty exclaimed.

When Sam heard this, her eyes widened. "Wow... Minty says... Eternity is her mother!" she cried.

Karania smiled, "I already knew. Eternity told me ages ago."

Everyone turned with wide eyes to Karania, at a loss for words. Sam gaped blankly at the older trainer, her sunglasses sliding down on her nose. "...A-amazing..." was all she could muster to say.

"I probably should've told you Sam, but I didn't think the time was right to tell you until now." Karania replied weakly.

Sam's eyes softened, and she moved over to Karania's side. "I understand, Karania..." she assured, taking her friend's hand. "But that's not the point now. Now we have to make sure you recover from all this."

Karania smiled weakly at her and continued to hold onto to Eternity while Minty performed a few of the tricks it knew while it tried to lighten the mood. The atmosphere in the helicopter, however, still remained tense and worried. Save for Lance and Sam making small conversation in order to reassure Karania and make her feel better, there wasn't much being said. Everyone spent most of their time craning their heads to peer out of the helicopter's windows, seeing if they could spot Fortree City any faster.

"Don't worry Karania." Archie said coming back into the area where the others were seated. "The pilot says we're about twenty-five minutes away from our destination, so don't worry, we're almost there."

Sara brightened, and she leaned over the back of Karania's seat to smile down at her. "Hear that?" she asked. "We're getting closer!" Everyone else perked at the news as well.

Karania merely nodded since she still felt weak. Eternity's bubble she had put Karania in was working to keep her from losing strength but what Eternity couldn't do herself was reverse the damage Maxie had done to its trainer.

Lance could sense the Legendary Pokemon's worry. And he couldn't blame her. He felt the same way she did. "Hold tight, Karania," he whispered, more to himself than to Karania herself. "You're gonna be fine."

Karania shifted but didn't say anything, it appeared that time was running out for her. Eternity and Minty could sense this too, and it was evident in the way their wide eyes saddened and their tails drooped. Mews were meant to be happy Pokemon. This was very distressing to them.

Sam bit her lip, trying to maintain some semblance of confidence, but she could sense that Karania was losing strength fast. "I wish I could do something," she thought fiercely, hating to not have the solution to everything as she was accustomed to. But she knew this was way over her. All they could do now was pray that Karania would make it.

Fifteen minutes passed in strained silence and Karania continued to fight for her life.

Edgar mashed his face against the window, trying to catch even a glimpse of the forest city of Fortree. "I wish we'd go faster..." he muttered to himself, knowing every minute that passed could mean Karania's death.

Archie returned a moment later, "The pilot says that we're about ten minutes away from Fortree."

"Good," May breathed, trying to search for the city as well.

Sam then got an idea. "Maybe one of us should either call the hospital to make sure they'll be ready for Karania, or fly down there on a Pokemon to tell them," she suggested.

"I can call them from up here." Archie replied. "We have a phone in the cockpit."

"Let's do that," Lance said.

Archie nodded and walked back into the cockpit to place the call to the hospital.

Ash, in the meantime, was practically pulling his hair out with frustration. "Can't we go any faster?" he complained.

Misty smacked him in the arm. "It's a helicopter, not a jet," she retorted.

Karania moaned and rested her head against Lance's shoulder.

Lance bit the inside of his lip and pressed his face to hers. "Hang on, Karania," he begged softly, closing his eyes tight. "We're almost there... You can make it..."

Karania shifted but said nothing and continued to try to fight for her life as

the helicopter took them ever closer to Fortree.

Sam leaned back against the side of Karania's seat where she sat on the floor, and watched Lance's frustration make itself clear on his face. "Even Lance is worried... and that's never a good thing..." she thought, frowning.

Archie returned to where the others were sitting, "I've placed the call and they're expecting her."

"That's good," breathed Lance. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Archie replied.

May suddenly gave a start. "Hey... is that it? Fortree City?" she asked, pointing out the window. Everyone turned to look out the window to what she was looking at.

"Yes, that's Fortree." Archie replied with a sigh of relief.

"That's good!" Sara exclaimed. "See Karania? We're almost there!"

Karania smiled weakly but didn't say anything, she felt too bad to say or do much.

Lance pressed his lips gently to her forehead. "I knew you could make it to Fortree..." he whispered. "You're gonna be fine now, I promise."

Karania smiled weakly at him but it quickly faded when Eternity's psychic bubble burst. Eternity looked exhausted.

Sam jumped in surprise. She looked at the tired Mew, and then she gasped. "Oh no!" she cried. "Eternity ran out of energy to help Karania!" Minty floated forward and attempted to try the same technique her mother had, but as she was still young, nothing came of her attempts.

Lance pulled a Max Potion out of one of his cape pockets and handed it to Sam. "Use that on Eternity and hurry! Karania's life may depend on this pokemon!"

Sam nodded, and scooped Eternity up in her arms. "Here you go, little girl..." she murmured, spraying the Max Potion on Eternity. The Legendary Pokemon blinked and shook her head as the cool wetness touched her fur.

A minute after the Max Potion had been sprayed on Eternity she seemed to have regained her strength and was able to put the psychic bubble back around Karania to protect her.

Sam smiled, and hugged Minty proudly. "That was close," she sighed. Then she glanced out the window again. "Hey, we're just about there!"

Karania smiled and laid her head against Lance's shoulder and fell asleep. Everyone gave a tense sigh. They were glad that Karania was sleeping, it would recover some of her strength. However, who knew if Karania would have the strength to ever wake up...? They all quickly pushed that thought aside.

Lance gently ran his fingers through her hair as she slept. "You'll be alright, I know it, the worst is just about over and now the healing can begin...." He whispered softly in her ear.

And though Karania was asleep, Lance was certain she had heard his every word. He just knew it.

Sam smiled at the sight of the two, and then leaned back as she felt the helicopter descend slowly. She closed her eyes and held her hands to her heart in a brief prayer to Ho-Oh, that Karania would heal and everything would be ok.

Archie returned to where the others were sitting. "We'll be going in for a landing soon so take your seats if you haven't done so already." Archie informed them.

Everyone nodded and sat back in their seats. Lance reached over to Sam and fairly jerked her into a nearby seat, grinning at her indignant scowl in return.

A minute or so later, the helicopter began to descend as it began to go in for a landing on the roof of the hospital. The doctors were already waiting near the landing pad, ready to transfer Karania inside as quickly as possible. They shielded their eyes from the harsh winds generated by the helicopter's blades as it came closer and closer. A minute or two later, the helicopter touched down with a light thud. Archie and a few other Team Aqua members leaped out first, motioning for the doctors to come quickly as they opened the passenger door to get Karania out. Lance appeared moving Karania carefully but seemed afraid to lift her very much lest he hurt her accidentally.

"Minty, do you think you can help us out here?" Sam asked her Mew, as she leaped out of the helicopter right after him. Minty nodded. That much she could do. The baby Mew focused her psychic abilities to help lift Karania gently and onto a waiting stretcher.

The doctors looked at Karania and gasped since it seemed that the only thing that appeared to be keeping her alive was her Mew's psychic powers.

"What on earth? What's happened to her?" asked one doctor, as they quickly but carefully rushed her inside the hospital and down the halls. The rest of the group fairly had to run to keep up with them. Eternity was holding on to Karania with her eyes closed, looking just as strained as her trainer did.

"Team Magma did something to her, I'm not sure what, and apparently it made her sick." Lance said while he struggled to keep up with them.

Archie muttered a few curses under his breath at the mention of Team Magma. "Maxie's crazy," he growled. "He thought he was helping Karania, but look what he did! Poor girl..."

The doctor nodded afraid that Karania was going to die. "I'll tell you up front, this doesn't look good, but we're going to do all we can for her." A doctor told them trying to keep the fear out of his voice.

Everyone paled at his words. Lance gritted his teeth together and closed his eyes, a fierce look appearing on his face. "...You... you do that," he said tightly, and everyone gave him a terrified look. To see the normally calm and kind Indigo League Champion and Dragon Master so worried, so upset, was not a good thing.

Minty flew to Eternity and began trying to channel some of its own power into its mother so that she could continue to help Karania.

Sam bit her lip sharply, hoping that Minty was making a difference. The teen felt so helpless to do anything! "Keep it up, sweetie," she whispered softly, as she followed her friends into a hospital room where the doctors quickly began to assemble items to try and save Karania's life.

Lance pulled out another Max Potion from his pocket and sprayed it on Eternity hoping that it would make a difference in Karania's fight for life.

In the meantime, the doctor put an IV into Karania's wrist, which would hopefully help as well. Eternity perked up a little bit after the potion had been sprayed on her by Lance and seemed to have recovered nearly all of her strength. Eternity still continued to try to help Karania with little regard for its own well-being.

"I hope Eternity doesn't overwork herself... this has got to be tough for her, too," May whispered, from where she was hiding behind Edgar.

Edgar nodded. "But I'm sure Eternity is willing to do whatever it takes to save Karania's life," he replied.

Lance looked on terrified at what might happen. He figured something in his pocket that held some special meaning to him but no one knew just what kind of meaning it held.

"You ok there...?" Sam whispered to him softly, looking up at him. Her eyes lowered at the frightened expression she saw in Lance's face, and she swallowed. "...I know this has to be scary for you... But you have to keep faith. She'll be fine. She has too many friends... too many Pokemon and people that care about her... for her to go like this..."

Lance nodded but still seemed worried. "Hold on there, Karania... Please..." Lance thought desperately at her, lowering his face so no one could see the tears threatening to come.

They all continued to watch over Karania tensely, waiting and praying that she would survive this.


	33. Helping Karania Recover

Chapter 32

"Helping Karania Recover"

The doctors continued to work on Karania in a frenzy while they still tried to be gentle with her as she was so sick. Most of Karania's watchful friends practically melted each time one of the doctors gave her a shot to try and help her. Lance was the only one who didn't flinch or shy away from the sight. Lance figured the small object in his pocket again hoping that he could still do what he had planned to do with it later.

Sam sat down in a nearby chair for a moment, feeling she didn't want to watch everything of this. She was still worried for Karania, of course, and also for Minty and Eternity, who were both using their psychic powers to help as much as possible. After a few moments of tense waiting she looked up at Lance, feeling she had to say something to him. "Hey Lance?" she asked, making the Dragon Master turn.

"Hmm?" he replied.

"I was just really wondering... when did you first meet Karania?" Sam questioned. "I just... I never heard it from either of you." She then shifted in her chair nervously, hoping she hadn't made things worse with her question.

Lance shifted in his chair so that he could look at her before he said, "Well, the first time I met Karania was when I was investigating at Lake Rage during the Red Gyarados incident.

"I see and exactly how is it that you met her?" Sam asked. "I mean, in what scenario did you meet her?"

Lance smiled ruefully. "Well... I had stolen a Team Rocket uniform to blend in with the other members," he explained. "I was going through the building trying searching for clues to figure out what was going on... when I rounded the corner and ran into Karania. She completely panicked when she saw me, and, well... before I knew it, she had knocked me silly."

Sam covered her mouth to hide a smile. "Really...?" she asked, trying not to laugh at the thought of Lance getting whacked upside the head (which would have been terribly out of place in a hospital room, where Karania was fighting for her life just a few feet away). "Oh wow... so what happened next?"

"I tried to convince her who I really was and that I wasn't going to hurt her and turn her over to other members." Lance replied meekly.

Sara smiled a little too. "Did she believe you?" she asked. "That you were Lance the Dragon Master?"

"No she didn't, she actually panicked and ran from me and crashed into seven Team Rocket grunts and Admins who seized her and took her off to a cell." Lance replied shaking his head at the memory.

"That's not good..." May said. "So did you rescue her, Lance?"

"I sure did." Lance replied smiling at the memory of the event.

Sam giggled a little. "Aw... all heroic and stuff, right?" she asked, smiling at her friend.

"Well, as much as I could do in that situation then yes." Lance replied.

"What had they done to her?" May asked horror-struck.

"They had taken her to a cell and tied her up very tightly so that she couldn't escape since she knew too much about their plan." Lance answered. "When I found that out... I snuck in to where they were holding her captive, and knocked out one of the two guards. The other one I challenged to a quick one-on-one battle."

"How did that go?" Sam asked looking interested.

Lance smiled. "Of course, being Team Rocket, he used a Weezing against me. So what'd I use? Dragonite, of course!"

"How'd you free her, Lance?" Sara inquired.

"After I took care of the Weezing easily enough, I forced the guard to hand over the key to the cell, and I got Karania out," Lance explained. "Then I threw the guards in the cell and locked it so they couldn't warn the rest of their team."

"How did you untie her?" May asked clearly interested.

"Um... well... it was kinda awkward, seeing as the ropes were in really tight knots... and then of course she was struggling all the while…." Lance said, blushing a little.

"So what did you do?" Misty asked.

"Well, in the end I decided to just use the key from the cell to saw through some of the ropes," Lance said.

"How well did that work?" Sam asked.

"It was hard..." sighed Lance. "It took a while, and my fingers got all sore from trying to pull the ropes apart afterwards. But yeah, I eventually got her free."

"What happened when you finally got her loose." Sam asked.

"Introduced myself, of course..." Lance continued, glancing over at Karania herself for a moment. "And I explained that I was trying to stop Team Rocket's experiments."

"What did she think of that?" May asked.

Lance grinned. "Well, she was really shocked at first, she had no idea that it was me she was speaking to, so she was apologizing a whole lot for hitting me and running away."

"What happened then?" Sara asked.

"Karania tried to get up so we could leave and stop the rest of Team Rocket, but she couldn't at first," he continued. "The ropes that they had used to tie her up had cut off her circulation some and she couldn't walk."

"So what did you do then?" Sam inquired.

"Well..." Lance ran a hand back through his hair with a smile. "I offered to carry her until she could walk again, of course!"

"Aw... That was sweet of you." Sam said with a smile.

Lance blushed a little. "Yeah... I guess it was," he replied, modest as usual.

"So what happened after you'd rescued her?" Misty asked.

"I carried her out of the lab, and when we got out we could see the Red Gyarados in the lake," Lance replied. "Team Rocket was trying to capture it in a net. Karania insisted we rescue it right away."

"So what'd you do?" Sam asked looking interested.

Lance smiled again. "Sent out Dragonite, of course!" he answered.

"So what did Karania send out?" Sam asked.

"Her Suicune, which really shocked me," Lance said. "I hadn't known that Karania was the Girl of Legend... so I wondered how on earth she'd gotten a Suicune."

Sam giggled, "I think the look on your face was priceless when you found that out."

"That's what she said later, too..." Lance muttered, looking embarrassed.

Sam smiled, "So how was it you caught the Gyarados and how did that help bring you and Karania together?"

Lance took a deep breath, recalling the moment. "Karania's Suicune went after the Team Rocket boat, keeping them busy while my Dragonite attacked the Red Gyarados and weakened it enough to capture. After that, Karania and I destroyed Team Rocket's labs, before returning to Mahogany. It was there we found out about each other's backgrounds, and we became friends..."

"That's really cool, I don't know whether you want to tell how you and Karania became an item, but if you don't mind telling we would like to hear it." Sam replied looking at Lance sincerely.

"Well... naturally, it just started out with me and her talking to each other," Lance began, sounding a little quieter than before. Apparently, he was getting lost in the memories. "...Then, after a few weeks, I got up enough courage to ask her on our first date."

"What did she think when you asked her?" Sam asked.

"I guess surprised... She never expected the Indigo Plateau League Champion to ask her out, I guess... But hey--I never expected to ask out the Girl of Legend myself. But I did." Everyone smiled at that.

Sam smiled, "Aw, that's so sweet."

"Yeah." Lance said blushing. "Oh I have a little secret that I'll share with you just don't tell Karania."

Sam looked at him, sincerely interested. "Don't worry, you know I won't tell," she said. "What is your secret, Lance?"

Lance pulled out a small velvet box from his pocket. "I planned to ask her to marry me." Lance replied opening the box so that Sam could see the ring.

Everyone's eyes widened in amazement. Sam gasped, grabbing Lance's hand with the ring and pulling it closer to inspect the beautiful golden ring, ringed with tiny diamonds. "R-really? Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "That's... that's great, Lance!"

Lance nodded with a smile from ear to ear, "I just hope she'll pull through so I can ask her..."

One of the doctors suddenly stood back with a huge sigh of relief just as Lance said that. "...Well, you just might... Though she's far from all better, we've finally been able to bring her back to stable condition!" he exclaimed, sounding excited.

Lance looked relieved, "That's the best news I've heard all day, thank you."

Everyone gave exclamations of joy, hugging one another and smiling at the news. "That's great!" Edgar cried. "I just knew she had to be all right!"

Karania gave a little moan as she began to come to and awaken from her sound sleep.

"Karania! She's waking up" Sara exclaimed.

Lance moved the box with the ring in it so that Karania couldn't see it, "I'm glad to see you survived, you had me worried."

Karania smiled weakly at his voice, and opened her eyes slowly. "Lance... I'm so glad to see you..." she said. "Am I... going to be ok?"

"You're going to be just fine, my dear." A doctor said. "Though weak, you will make it, everything will be easier from here on out for you."

Karania brightened. "Oh... thank you so much..." she said, smiling a little.

The doctors nodded at her and left the room.

Once they'd left, Lance looked at Karania and took her hand. "Karania, there's something I wanted to ask you now that you're better..." Lance started.

Everyone held their breaths, knowing what was coming up. Karania looked up at Lance, puzzled. "What's that?" she asked, holding a tired yet relieved Eternity close to her.

Lance pulled out the velvet box and dropped to one knee, "Karania, will you marry me?"

Karania's eyes grew wide. "What...? Lance, you... you want me to marry you?" she asked, her voice filled with astonishment.

Lance nodded, "There's no one other than you that I would rather spend the rest of my life with."

"Oh... Lance..." Karania's eyes filled with tears. "You... I..." She struggled to find words to express the emotions she was suddenly filled with inside.

"What is it, darling?" Lance asked her sweetly taking the ring out of the box before putting the box back in his pocket.

Karania smiled through her tears. "Oh Lance... of course... of course I'll marry you..." she cried. "You're my best friend, the one person I love most. Why would I ever refuse?"

Lance slid the ring onto her finger and smiled.

Karania smiled. "Oh... Lance, thank you," she whispered, pulling him down into a hug.

Lance leaned down some more and planted a kiss on her cheek, "I love you, Karania..." He then wrapped his arms around her and hugged the girl he loved as she looked at him happily.

Karania smiled, brushing her hand against his cheek. "I love you too, Lance. And you've made me so happy..."

Lance smiled back at her, "I'm glad. Now you just worry about getting better and we'll set the date for the wedding later."

Sam laughed, hugging Minty close with happiness. "You're inviting me to the wedding, right you two?" she asked, with a smile.

"Yup." Karania replied. "I was thinking Maid of Honor."

Sam gasped. "R-r-really?" she stammered, her eyes wide as full moons. "I... um... oh my gosh! Thank you!" Tears of joy shimmered in her eyes as she said this.

"Yup." Lance replied agreeing full heartedly with Karania's words.

"We're invited too, right?" asked Misty.

"Definitely." Lance replied. "I don't abandon friendships that easily."

Everyone gasped excitedly at his words. This was turning out even better than any of them could have thought! They had rescued Karania from the clutches of Team Magma... Lance and Karania were to be married... and they were all invited to the wedding!

Karania smiled and tried not to overdo it since the doctors had just gotten her stabilized.

"I think... when Karania feels a lot better, we should have a party or something," May suggested. "Or go out together... just to celebrate, at least!"

"Sounds good to me." Karania replied. "What do you think Lance?"

He grinned. "Fine by me. If it's good with you, darling, it's good with me!"

"What should we do then?" Karania asked.

Sara laughed. "I propose we party in Lilycove!" she exclaimed.

Lance thought, and then grinned. "I know... how about the Medieval Times there? That's a pretty fun place to celebrate!"

Ash blinked. "What's that?" he asked.

"It's a place where they reinact chivalry with knights and tournaments and royalty." Karania replied.

May beamed. "That sounds like fun!" she exclaimed.

"There's a knighting ceremony you can go through if you're celebrating something special." Karania added smiling at the thought.

"Oh, so you could have them do that cause you and Lance are getting married, right?" asked Misty.

'Yup." Lance replied. "They'll definitely think that's sweet and they'll take our picture with the king and sometimes even the princess."

Sam grinned. "That does sound fun!" she exclaimed. "So... I guess that's where we're gonna celebrate, huh?"

"Yup." Lance replied.

Everyone cheered with excitement, practically hugging one another in their happiness. Lance smiled, but held up his hands. "All right, keep it down," he said. "Karania isn't all better yet."

Karania smiled, "I'm looking forward to it too, but I need to heal first."

"Sorry," apologized Edgar. "We're just really happy for you two."

"It's okay." Lance assured them.

Still smiling, everyone settled down to let Karania get some rest, caught up in their excitement for this new turn of happy events.


	34. Preparing for a Fight

Chapter 33

"Preparing for a Fight"

The remainder of the week passed with Karania resting and recovering in the hospital, with all of her friends continuing to stay at her side and watch over her. She seemed to be doing much better than she had been, which was probably due to Lance's recent marriage proposal to her. Everyone was extremely excited and happy for the two, and the cheerful atmosphere seemed to be contributing to Karania's recovery.

Thank you for staying with me guys... It makes me feel better knowing you're here..." Karania murmured with a smile.'

Just then the door opened and Archie entered looking slightly worse for the wear and extremely tired. Archie leaned against the wall, "I have bad news..." He said gasping for breath since he had moved really quickly to get to Karania's room.

Everyone looked up, startled at the Team Aqua leader's sudden entrance. Lance stood up. "What's wrong?" he asked, immediately worried.

"I... I just got several intelligence reports from several of my agents... They said that Maxie is very close to locating Karania..." Archie replied.

A collective gasp went through the room at this. "What? What do you mean?" Ash yelled. "You mean Maxie's still trying to get a hold of Karania?"

Archie nodded, "yes, he never gives up, he's very, shall we say, persistent."

"I'll say..." Sam grumbled. Lance smiled slightly at her comment, but instantly grew serious once more.

"Do you have any idea where he might be right now?" he asked Archie.

"They said he was heading up towards the Weather Institute, so they're very close... I'm sorry, we just found out about this..." Archie replied sadly.

"We have to protect Karania from him!" Misty declared. "If he gets a hold of her again, who knows what might happen to her!"

"La..n..ce..." Karania choked out afraid.

Lance quickly turned to Karania and took her hand in his. "Don't be afraid," he whispered gently. "I won't let him hurt you again, I swear it."

Karania calmed down a little but still seemed slightly scared.

Edgar finally spoke up from where he had been sitting. "What do you think we should do about this?" he asked.

"I've sent some of my agents to head him off, so hopefully that'll work and he won't advance any further." Archie told them.

Lance nodded in approval. "That's good," he said. "And I think we ought to prepare ourselves here too, just in case. We can't risk Maxie getting at Karania again."

"My thoughts exactly." Archie replied nodding. "That's why I flew in here to tell ya."

Lance sighed thoughtfully and closed his eyes, wondering what he should do to protect Karania. He didn't want to risk a fight in the very room Karania was in, like they had before rescuing her from Team Magma, so he had to figure out the best way to go about making sure they didn't get anywhere near her.

"Lance..." Karania murmured holding her hand with her engagement ring on it out to him.

He turned to her again and took her hand gently in his own, placing a soft kiss upon it. "Don't worry, Karania," he whispered. "I'll protect you, I promise..."

"Lance..." Karania said softly. "What if you had people scattered through the halls that led to my room?"

He considered her suggestions. "That probably would work," he said. He turned to the others. "What does everyone think of that idea?"

"That sounds good to me too." Archie said. "I'll get on it, Maxie will be crazy to try something here!"

Sam smiled and snuggled Minty, her Mew, close to her. "Do you think we could lend a hand in protecting Karania from Team Magma, too?" she asked.

"Mewy Mew Mew!" Minty replied doing a series of aerial summersaults that made Eternity give her a reproachful look.

Everyone laughed softly at the young Mew's adorable antics. "You're so silly," teased Sam, pulling Minty's tail. "We have to do our best, then!"

"Mew!" Minty replied.

Eternity snuggled close to Karania, "Mew..."

"Don't be afraid, Karania," Sara urged. "We'll make sure that jerk Maxie doesn't get ya. We have our Pokemon here to battle him if he tries anything!"

"Sara... I know Team Magma killed your family but don't let your anger rule your head!" Karania cried remembering past events.

May gasped, startled at Karania's words. "Sara... Team Magma killed your family?" she asked in horror.

Sara nodded and blinked, not quite sure how Karania knew that about her.

"Yes... they did..." she whispered sadly. "But... Karania, how did you know that about me? I never told anyone that..."

"Psychics know things, Sara, and Eternity told me." Karania replied.

Sara smiled and blushed slightly. "Oh, of course, I should have guessed," she said. "...I'm sorry though. Team Magma has taken so much from me... I can't help but be upset at them."

"Just make sure your anger doesn't incorrectly fuel your actions." Karania told her seriously. "It could create the wrong result."

Sara nodded. "You're right... I always get myself into trouble this way," she admitted ruefully. "I'll try not to let my feelings about Team Magma get the best of me."

"Good.'' Karania replied. Karania looked at Lance, "What's the plan now?"

"Hmm... I think we should start getting shifts organized to stand guard in the halls, so that we can keep a lookout for Team Magma," Lance replied. "Archie, I think it would be a good idea for your Team Aqua members to head out and try to keep them from reaching Fortree as well."

"Good idea, let's do that." Archie said.

Lance turned to his friends. "All right... Sam, Sara, Edgar, May, Ash, and Misty... you all prepare your Pokemon that you'll be using to guard, all right? I'm sure you will do a good job, you're all wonderful trainers," he told them. "I'll be here at Karania's side, if you all don't mind me claiming that honor." He smiled at Karania as he said this.

The others smiled and chuckled, "Of course not, Lance, she's your girlfriend, so yeah, we don't mind... We'll take the halls..."

Lance laughed softly as Archie and the others left the room, with encouraging words to Karania that they would make sure to keep Team Magma away. When they had left, he turned back to Karania and rested his head upon the bed next to hers. "Don't you worry about a thing, dear," he assured. "Things will be all right."

"Lance, you're so good to me..." Karania murmured smiling at him.

He smiled warmly at her. "But of course... You know I love you. I won't let anything harm you."

Karania smiled again and tried to sit up to hug him.

Quickly Lance urged her to lie back down. "Don't exert yourself," he soothed. "I want you to rest up as much as you can." As Karania settled back down on the bed, he leaned over and hugged her close.

"I feel like I'm so fragile..." Karania muttered.

He laughed softly. "Well, I don't blame you, with all that you've been through... But you'll be fine soon. Just give it time."

Karania smiled, "Yeah, stupid Maxie... I never want to see him again! He's done enough!"

"I know..." Lance sighed. "I just wish I knew why he wants to do this to you..."

"I remember him saying something about how I was "important to him" for some reason when he thought I was asleep." Karania told Lance revealing this small piece of interesting info.

Lance looked surprised. "Oh, really?" he asked. His brow furrowed thoughtfully. "I wonder what that means..."

"I also remember him saying that I could prove useful to him if he had me around..." Karania muttered.

Lance frowned. "I don't like the sound of that..." he muttered. "That jerk..."

"Incoming!" Sam's voice rang out clear as a bell.

Lance and Karania jumped and turned to face her. "Sam!" Lance exclaimed, hiding a smile. "Could have at least knocked, ya know?"

"Sorry, but there's Team Magma members up the hall not far from here and I thought you should know." Sam replied.

Both Lance and Karania gasped at this news. "What!" cried Lance. "Are you serious?"

Sam nodded, "Yes, and they're moving this way, and Maxie's among them!"

Lance's eyes narrowed, and he got to his feet. "If he thinks he can just walk in here without a fight... he's wrong," he said.

"Good luck, Lance, don't let him get in here!" Karania cried.

Sam smiled at Karania. "Don't worry, I'll be helping him out too," she assured. "Team Magma's gonna be hard-pressed to get in here!"

"Two masters versus one stupid Team Magma leader and however many grunts and Admins... Sounds like good odds with the others helping." Karania said.

Sam laughed at Karania's words. "Well... thanks!" she said, blushing.

"Get a move on, you said they were coming, I've got Eternity and my other legendaries..." Karania eyed her poke balls that were sitting on her bedside table. "Lance, I can't reach those!"

Lance quickly moved the Pokeballs to where Karania could easily reach them. "Sam, you go ahead, I'll catch up," he called. Sam nodded readily and left the room as Karania sat up in bed so she would be ready just in case.

"Thanks Lance." Karania replied. Karania fingered one of her poke balls, "Good luck, bring home the bacon!"

Lance smiled and kissed her on the cheek gently. "You bet I will!" he promised.

"Good luck!" Karania called after him as he began to leave the room.


End file.
